


Blood and Soul

by DemonRomantic



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Spoilers!, Vampire AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-29 10:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13924821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonRomantic/pseuds/DemonRomantic
Summary: Soul Eater with a vampire twist. :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Soul Eater or any of it's charaters. I hope you all enjoy it!

Blood and Soul  
By DemonRomantic

Long ago, there lived a race of beings who gained immortality by drinking the blood of humans. By consuming their essence, this clan was able to live for thousands of years and established an empire of aristocracy and mighty warriors. The noble born, known as Meisters, were the pure-blooded royalty who ruled over the lower classes, and the warriors, known as weapons, were bred for their unique shapeshifting abilities and to serve the Meisters. For many centuries their people went undetected by humans, until rogue Meisters and weapons began feeding upon not only the blood, but the souls of their prey.  
The king of this clan decided that anyone who strayed to feeding upon human souls would be executed by the weapons and their Meisters, in order to protect humans from needless death and to further shield his own people from scrutiny. After the rogues were dispatched, the king was given the title ‘Lord Death’ and he saw fit to turn his castle into an academy to help train future generations in becoming exemplary weapons and Meisters, so that future rogues, or Keishan, would be dealt with accordingly. 

“Lady Maka, perhaps you would enjoy a different activity today?” Soul strained, twitching his brow at the book in his hands.  
Maka lounged in a window seat with a book propped open in her hands and her eyes never once leaving the page, while Soul sat on the floor before her with his back against the bench trying to read a book of his own.  
“I told you Soul, this is the last chapter, you won’t have to endure it much longer.”  
Soul sighed. Being the weapon of a bookworm noble like Maka was so excruciating whenever she insisted on going to the library. He’d be subjected to hours of silence and shushing by her, when all he wanted was for her to put down her stupid books. Trying to get him to read something hadn’t helped either, he was losing focus staring at the never-ending strings of sentences that seemed to be going nowhere.  
“I beg of you, I’m losing my mind.”  
Maka sighed, finally looking down at him. “Would you like me to read it to you? Maybe then you would actually enjoy a story.”  
Soul huffed. Maka took it as a yes and began reading aloud.  
“So, pale my love that comes to me in my dreams. There she stays bathed in the radiance of the moon, never to be kissed by the sunshine. Lips as soft as flower petals caress my neck so gently that they feel as faint as a butterfly’s wing tip. Together we dance to the songs of the night, and when the dawn comes, to sleep we return. The dreams, ah the dreams, of my love.”  
Soul smirked, it was his way of smiling without having to admit that he had enjoyed hearing Maka read. He hadn’t really paid attention to the words, but hearing Maka read them relaxed him.  
“Well, you happy now? I finished it. Guess I’ll have to find something else to read now.”  
“With all due respect, my lady, I believe we have training to get to.”  
Maka climbed off the window bench and extended her hand down to Soul. He hesitated before grabbing it. “I told you before, Soul, when no one’s around, it’s okay to just call me Maka. You don’t have to be so formal.”  
Soul’s smirk widened, and he dropped his proprieties. “I know, but you never know when some nosey jerk is going to come poking their head in and catch you.”  
“Good point. Are you ready to go?”  
Soul nodded.

The students of the Death Weapon Meister Academy were all on a schedule of training mixed in with studying. When classes weren’t in session, the students would be given assigned hunting parties to go out of the city limits and feed. In Soul and Maka’s group, there were Black-Star and Tsubaki, and now Lord Death’s son Kid, and his two weapons Liz and Patty. The hunting groups were usually assigned randomly, but Kid had requested to go with his friends after seeing the way they could all fight in training. Maka thought it odd at first that the prince of vampires didn’t have any bodyguards other than his twin pistols, but after encountering their fighting techniques, she understood that he didn’t need the extra muscle.  
Their group, as well as the other students, had recently been taught how to link soul-wavelengths in large parties as well as between Meister and weapon partners. So, even if they were all separated from one another, they could still sense one another’s resonance. It was a useful technique when hunting and fighting.  
“You guys, I think I’ve got a scent!” Black-Star called.  
Tsubaki, currently in her weapon form, sighed. “Black-Star, you have to be quiet or you’ll scare away the prey.”  
“Whatever it is should be scarred. After all, I am the best hunter and fighter, my reputation always precedes me.”  
“Yeah, your reputation for being a loud mouth!” Kid shouted in a whisper.  
“You wanna fight, your majesty?” Black-Star took on a defensive stance and bared his fangs in a confident smile.  
“Is that anyway to talk to royalty?”  
“I don’t give a crap if you are a prince, I’ll still kick your ass!”  
Tsubaki phased out of her weapon form and stood with her hands held up and waving nervously. “Hey, we don’t need to fight each other. We’re supposed to be a team here.”  
“Tsubaki’s right you guys.” Maka said, Soul grasped in her hand as a scythe. “Don’t start fighting amongst yourselves over petty arguments. We don’t have a lot of time before we have to get back to the city, and I’d like to feed before that happens.”  
She walked over and placed a hand on Black-Star’s shoulder after Kid had moved away, speaking low. “I know that we’re all friends and you’re a Meister as well as Kid but try and remember your place. Fighting with a member of the royal family isn’t a good idea.”  
Black-Star shrugged her off and took a few paces in the direction Kid had gone before pausing. Without turning to look back at her, he addressed Maka.  
“I don’t give a damn about the politics of our clan. If I did, that would mean I’d have to give in to the history of my family name. I’m who I choose to be, not the position I was born into.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and frowned. “I’ve heard the rumors about you too, you know. How you’re a Dunpeal? You’re lucky though that you displayed the Meister traits and that your dad is one of Lord Death’s weapons. If you were to get in fight with Kid, I don’t think anyone would bat and eye.”  
Soul frowned to himself, feeling the shift in Maka’s resonance as her grip around him tightened. Black-Star turned to Tsubaki and gestured with his head for them to go. Maka stayed put for a long moment, until Soul finally phased out of his scythe form.  
“Hey, you alright, Maka?”  
She was glaring at the ground.  
“What did Black-Star mean by Dunpeal?”  
“Dunpeal, Dhampir, Halfer… there are a lot of different names for it. I’m not a full-blooded Meister, but you knew that. It doesn’t mean much if you tell a weapon that you’re a Dunpeal, but if a noble finds out, then they judge you as being one up from a weapon because you share their blood. My mother is a noble, and because I haven’t displayed the ability to shift into a weapon form, I was given the rank as well, but only because my father is who he is. What Black-Star meant about me being lucky that my dad is Lord Death’s weapon, is that if he were anyone else’s, I would be exiled. Dunpeals usually exhibit weapon traits, since the genes are more dominant, but when you are a weapon rank and can’t actually change into a weapon, then you’re useless. He was mocking me for being granted amnesty.”  
Soul reached out a hand and gingerly took one of Maka’s ponytails. A scandalous gesture, but they were alone now; the other’s wavelengths far off from their own. “So, that’s why you’re not all stuffy towards weapons like other Meisters. Even with the bond shared between a Meister and weapon, people still have to act stuck-up when it comes to blood.”  
Maka smiled, wrapping her hand around Soul’s. “I think people should be treated fairly. It doesn’t matter what’s in your blood, it’s what’s in the soul that counts.”  
Soul’s lip twitched into a brief smile before he released Maka’s hair and they both followed after their friends.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
“Everyone, may I have your attention please?” Professor Stein called out to the students as they mock-battled in the courtyard of the academy.  
The Meisters and weapons all stood in silence, awaiting the professor’s words.  
“Lord Death has informed me that there is a very grave matter that must be addressed with all of you. It seems that there is an active group of witches at large who are performing soul disruption upon humans and vampires alike, and as we all know, those who meddle with souls must be put to an end.” He pressed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, causing them to gleam in the light. “Your training has been to prepare you for this, but it is still a very dangerous task. From this point on, in place of training, you will all be sent out in your Meister and weapon pairings to track down these soul defilers. Consider it a graduation ceremony.”  
A cheer rose up throughout the crowd and Professor Stein raised his hands to have silence once again.   
“Like any graduation, there is also to be a party this weekend to celebrate. It’s a formal affair, so put on your dancing shoes and bring your appetites, because there will be plenty of blood and food.”  
“Alright, party time!” Black-Star cried.   
“A party sounds nice, huh Soul?” Maka looked at her partner with a warm smile.  
Soul felt his face getting warm, but quickly recovered by scratching his head aloofly. “Yeah. Parties are cool. As long as there aren’t too many old fogies chaperoning and giving everybody the stink-eye.”  
They all knew what he meant. Older clan nobles frowned on the newer custom of having weapon and Meister pairings become closer in bond, especially through activities as intimate as dancing. Weapons were supposed to serve their Meisters without question; like knights in their loyalty. The prejudices were so bad that there were even old stories of Meisters who abused their weapon partners and treated them like slaves. The story of how the first Keishan came into being even told of how a Meister had consumed his own weapon’s soul. Over the generations, it had become more and more accepted for weapons and Meisters to be thought of as equal, but the main differences still were taken into account when it came to who had say over who. When those boundaries were crossed, you were considered an outcast.   
Maka’s own mother and father were infamous amongst the clan for having married, let alone conceiving her, a Dunpeal. It was not unheard of, in fact most Dunpeals who exhibited weapon characteristics were thought of as a superior race, but overall they were an anomaly thanks to the fear of persecution. Although the rumors circulating around Maka were often put to rest, thanks to the favoritism of her and her family by Lord Death, cases like the one that had happened with Black-Star still occurred. She was currently the only known Dunpeal living amongst their clan.   
Soul had to shake her shoulder for a second time to get her attention. “Hey, Maka. Come on, it’s time to go home.”   
She blinked before looking at him, and then following him out of the courtyard.

Dormitories around Death City provided housing to the students of the DWMA. Unlike the human world, they were not actual dorms, but more like apartments that were paid for in the student tuition. Soul and Maka lived together in a two-bedroom home with a small kitchen and living room. Surprisingly not a new custom, Meister and weapon partners needed to be in constant contact with one another in case there were ever an urgent matter where they needed to fight immediately. Living under the same roof provided additional bonding as well, even if most of the time it became dysfunctional.  
“Ma-ka!” Soul enunciated the syllables of her name to show his annoyance. “I told you buy more milk the last time you went shopping!”   
She raised an exaggerated eyebrow at him from over-top the book she was currently reading. Teasingly, she made her voice have a superior intonation. “You sure you want to be talking to your Meister like that?”  
He shut the fridge and yanked one of her ponytails as he passed by her. “Oh, come off it.”   
Plopping down on the couch beside her in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of boxers, he flipped on the television and leaned against the arm. Maka shut her book, already in her pajamas, and brought her feet up before resting against the other arm.   
“It’s no surprise your hair is so white with all the milk you drink. If you didn’t guzzle it like it was going out of style, then you’d have some right now.”  
“You used the rest in last night’s curry, if I recall. Which was a total waste, not only because you’re supposed to use coconut milk, but also because you burnt it.”  
Maka grumbled. “Fine, I’ll get more milk. Just quite drinking it like it’s blood.”  
“Deal.”  
They continued to watch T.V. until at some point they both fell asleep. 

It must have been hours later that Maka awoke with a scream, alerting Soul into wakefulness. Looming over her was a dark shadow that seemed to be humanoid but was much too large to be a regular person. Adrenaline shot through him like a bullet and in a split second he was over Maka like a shield, facing the intruder. The creature’s form rippled and morphed into a sword, before slashing Soul across the chest.  
“GAH!” Soul shouted.  
“SOUL!”   
With an angry growl, Maka pulled him out of the way before the beast could deliver another blow, and held up her massive book to block the attack. After the connection of the hardbound novel and the blade, the intruder morphed back into a humanoid shape and came after her with its bare hands. Raising the book into the air, she brought it down in a lethal chop on the creature’s head. Whimpering, whatever it was withdrew and dashed across the carpet to the broken sliding doors it had entered from, bounding through the opening and out into the night.   
Shaking from the initial shock, Maka tossed aside her book and moved to Soul who was tensed, and bleeding on the couch.  
“Oh my god, Soul are you okay?” She stared, horrified, at the gash in his shirt that was spilling blood.   
“I will be.” He ground out between clenched teeth. “You have to seal the wound…”   
She nodded grimly before helping him pull off his shirt and setting it in a heap on the floor. Sticking out her tongue, she brought it to one end of the cut and ran it slowly up to the other. Almost immediately, her saliva numbed the pain in his chest and the wound began to shut. Soul panted as the pain ebbed away and he sat with a scar forming over his torso.   
Maka grimaced at the mark before looking up at him with terrified eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her up to him in a steadying embrace, the both of them utterly without words. No creature besides their own kind could harm another vampire, and whatever that thing had been, was clearly something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
“What are we going to do about this, Lord Death?!” Spirit fumed, dropping all pretenses of being a servant.  
“Calm yourself, Spirit.” Professor Stein cautioned, placing a hand on the death scythes’ shoulder.  
Spirit shrugged him off. “My daughter was almost killed! I may be a weapon, but I am a loyal one, and Maka has the amnesty of a noble. Doesn’t that grant her a higher level of protection, your majesty?”  
Lord Death was busy staring at the mess on Soul and Maka’s floor, analyzing a pool of what looked like blood, but it was too black to be from a human or vampire. He glided over to the kitchen where Maka and Soul sat with their hands gripping one another’s, they didn’t even let go as Lord Death approached. He frowned beneath his mask at the state they were still in. Maka had Soul’s blood splattered on her pajamas and traces of it on her face from when she had sealed his wound. Soul remained topless, exposing his scar to the congregation in their apartment. His worried eyes never leaving Maka, as she stared at the floor in shock.  
“These children have been through a Hell of a night, they shouldn’t stay here, that much is obvious.” Lord Death stated.  
“Let them stay with us, master. Please.” Spirit beseeched.  
“That is probably for the best. The manor does have better protections against intruders.”  
Spirit nodded his thanks and came to place a hand on Maka’s shoulder. “Maka, let’s go sweetheart.”  
Maka blinked and looked up at her father. “Papa?”  
Spirit smiled, holding out his hand. She grabbed it without releasing Soul’s, and the both of them helped her out of the apartment on shaking legs. They were barely out into the hall when she collapsed and Soul immediately caught her. Swinging her up into his arms, he began walking again unfazed by the presence of the adults who shared glances with one another.  
“Even considering what’s taken place, I’d say those two are dangerously close.” Professor Stein mused, when Soul had distanced Maka and himself some ways ahead of the men. “It’s the duty of a weapon to protect their Meister to the death, yet it seems Maka saved Soul’s life according to their account of what happened.”  
“You forget that she is half-weapon. It’s in her blood to protect those close to her. She’s always been the defender. Although, I’m not the biggest fan of Soul Eater Evans, I know that he does his duty unfalteringly and protects her even though she doesn’t need it. There bond is nothing more than loyalty towards one another, that’s all.” Spirit insisted.  
“Perhaps, but they remind me somewhat of another young couple I know.” Lord Death said smugly, eye-balling Spirit.  
The death sycthe’s face turned bright red and he hurried after his daughter and her weapon, while Stein and Lord Death chortled behind them.

Kid, Liz, and Patty all watched Maka and Soul with somber eyes. The partners were cleaned up now and in their usual clothes sitting on one of the couches in Lord Death’s manor, but they both still seemed rattled from the attack. Soul was absent-mindedly touching his chest, while Maka now cast a guilty look on him.  
Soul dropped his hand. “Maka, I’m fine, I told you. You don’t need to keep looking at me like that. It wasn’t your fault.”  
Maka grimaced and turned her face to the floor. “I should have acted quicker.”  
“You acted faster than any Meister would for their weapon, or vise-versa.” Kid said, putting a hand on Maka’s shoulder.  
Liz and Patty came and put their hands on her opposite arm, while Soul rested his hand on her knee. Maka smiled at them, before getting a distant look in her eyes.  
“That thing, whatever it was, it’s soul was almost like… like it had two of them.” Maka shook at the memory.  
“What do you mean?” Kid asked, puzzled.  
“It was able to change its shape like a weapon, but it had the presence of a Meister as well. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that it was a Dunpeal, but… that’s not possible. I’m the only one in our clan.”  
“What if there are other vampires that don’t belong to our clan?” Patty asked.  
“That’s not possible, either.” Liz inserted. “Vampires were first created hundreds of generations ago, and the secret of how they made it so that blood would keep them alive was lost to the eldest members of the clan. Vampires can only be born now, and that makes them a part of our clan by default. Only Lord Death himself knows how to make a vampire out of a human.”  
“Maybe someone else has learned the secret.” Soul said, ominously.

Far from the DWMA and Death City, a woman with snake tattoos dancing across her arms and feet chanted to herself in the darkness of an underground lair.  
“Make snake, cobra cobra… Make snake, cobra cobra…” She hissed.  
The sudden appearance of a humanoid creature interrupted the woman. Seemingly constructed entirely out of black blobs, it knelt before her and whimpered in pain, before a glow took over its body and it shrunk and transformed into a human boy with messy pink hair. The boy gasped and lurched, before looking up at her with fearful eyes. The woman barely threw a glance over her shoulder as he came in.  
“You found the girl?”  
The boy nodded. “Yes, lady Medusa, but I… Ragnarok was unable to subdue her. Her weapon got in the way and she fought back. Please… don’t be angry… we can try again. This time we’ll-”  
She snapped her head around with a glare, and the boy immediately fell silent. “No. You failed. Now it will only be more difficult for me to get my hands on her. Lord Death will be keeping a sharp eye on her from now on.”  
The boy shook in anticipation of the cruel punishment he was no doubt about to receive. “Please… mother…”  
“Silence!” She hissed, turning to look at him fully.  
He gulped.  
“Crona,” Medusa crooned, faking an affectionate smile. She padded towards him on her bare feet. “I need that girl’s blood, but more importantly, her soul. If I am to complete my plans I need her alive. Consider it lucky that you were not the one in control of your actions, or you would be suffering now. That scythe of hers is a problem, though…”  
“We were able to cut him, he should be infected at least if not dead by now.”  
Medusa grinned wickedly. “Good, then we do have an advantage… I’ll need some time to formulate a new plan of getting my hands on her. In the mean time, that boy should provide me with a puppet. I want you to continue spying on them for me. That ball is in two days and will provide us with the proper cover to pull off our mission.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So long to update, I'm sorry. :P   
> On an unrelated note, today I watched 'The Shape of Water' for the first time. Really beautiful movie; I highly recommend it. It's even better if you just so happen to watch it on a rainy day. :)

Chapter 4  
Soul frowned, unable to ignore the whispered remarks and scowls of the older party-goers. He supposed he could have just let go of Maka’s hand as they entered the school together, but she had been anxious about leaving his side ever since their apartment was broken into.   
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. You’re too reckless.” She had said.  
“Me? You’re the one who goes charging into things half-cocked.”  
“I may be your Meister, but even so, you can’t throw yourself into harms way on my behalf. I’m part weapon, too, I can protect you just as much as you protect me.”  
“Yeah, but you can’t shift into a weapon form like I can. You’re completely hopeless as a weapon.”  
Maka had frowned soberly at his teasing, making him grimace.  
‘Damn, she’s taking this whole situation pretty bad…’ Soul thought. “Hey, listen Maka, I don’t expect you to save me, alright? I’m fine. I got hurt because of a choice I made, not because of you, so quite feeling guilty, will ya?”   
She gave him a smile, but her eyes were weary.   
Now that the day of the graduation ceremony had come, the atmosphere was much lighter. Black Star and Patty were stuffing their faces while Tsubaki and Kid watched in appalled horror at their lack of decorum, while Liz waved Maka and Soul over.   
“Hey, you guys, you two sure look spiffed-up.” She eye-balled their locked hands and made a smug look at them, before casting a glance at the onlookers who watched the various younger partners dancing with distain in their eyes. “Looks like the elders have their feathers ruffled by all this new-aged bonding.”   
Black Star belched and wiped his mouth on his oversized jacket sleeve, causing Kid to shudder.   
“They just can’t stand to see people who know how to have a good time. I don’t see what’s wrong with a little attention, even from them.” He grabbed Tsubaki’s hand and smiled devilishly at her. “Hey, Tsubaki, let’s show these old geezers what soul resonance is supposed to look like!”   
Tsubaki smiled warmly at him before he dragged her off to the dance floor. Kid recomposed himself and coughed into his fist.   
“Liz, Patty, would you two like to dance?”  
The twins shared a look and nodded to one another before turning to Kid.   
“Sure thing.” Liz said.  
“Here, save my food, okay?” Patty handed her plate to Kid and took Liz’s arm; the two of them strolling off.   
“H-hey! I meant with me!” Kid set the plate down on one of the tables and ran off after them.   
Soul and Maka were alone.   
“They sure know how to ditch us.” Soul sighed.  
“Maybe they’re just trying to give us some space.” Maka tried, but she was a little frustrated by their sudden flight as well.  
“I’m not really in the mood for dancing just yet, I’m starving. You want me to grab you a plate?”  
Maka shook her head. “I’m fine.”  
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”   
A sudden voice startled Maka after Soul left for the buffet. “Excuse me, would you happen to know where the restroom is?”  
Turning around, Maka saw a blond woman in a blue dress with almost snake-like features smiling at her.   
“Oh, uh there are some out in the hallway, I could show you if you’d like.”  
Maka did not sense that the woman in front of her was actually a witch in disguise, because Medusa was currently using soul-protect to shield herself from the hundreds of Meisters and weapons amassed in the school. The sent of her blood didn’t give her away either, thanks to some experiments she had done to herself.  
“That’s so sweet of you. I’m not very good with directions, I get lost so easily.” Medusa crooned as Maka escorted her out into the vacant hallways.  
“It’s no trouble, they’re just right over here.” Maka said, pointing the way for Medusa.  
While Maka had her back turned to the lavatories, a large, muscular man with one eye that looked marred appeared from the men’s side and grabbed her from behind. Before Maka could even scream, or try to struggle, he clapped a large hand over her mouth and locked her in his vice-like grip.   
Medusa chuckled wickedly. “Good work, Free. Now get her to our rendezvous point. There is still much work for me to do here.”  
“Yes, lady Medusa.” The large man said, before dragging Maka off.   
Maka couldn’t believe what was happening. She was actually being abducted! But why? Why would anyone want to take her? She was a noble, but just barely. No one important enough to be kidnapped. What did they want with her?  
‘Soul… Soul!’ Maka thought. She just prayed that her soul-wavelength would reach him before it was too late.

Soul sneezed violently and rubbed his nose on his sleeve. He was busy eating in the ballroom when he felt a chill go through him. Furrowing his brow, he frowned.   
“… Maka?”   
A hand came down on Soul’s shoulder then, and he tensed as he turned to look up at Spirit.   
“Hey, Soul, do you mind if I talk to you for a second?” He said it in the way only a dad with a teenage daughter hanging out with a boy could.  
“Uh… actually I think I need to go find Maka right now, so…”   
He was stopped by the hand on his shoulder as it squeezed him. “That’s why I need to talk to you.”   
Soul shrugged the hand off of himself and glared at Spirit. “I’m getting a strong wavelength from her soul right now, so I really should go find her now, okay. We can talk later.”   
He managed to trudge away only a few steps before Professor Stein blocked his path. “Soul, Maka is gone. I really think you should listen to what Spirit has to say.”

The room Maka was being held in was completely dark. She couldn’t see or hear anything except for her own breathing. Wherever she was, she couldn’t tell how far from the academy they’d taken her. Before they had left the city, she’d been brought face to face with a boy about her age who looked uncomfortably skittish.   
“Wow, she smells even better than we remember. I really want to taste her blood…” The boy muttered.   
“You know that isn’t an option, Crona. Lady Medusa doesn’t want the girl’s blood tainted before she can extract it. If you were to get any of your venom into her blood stream, it would taint her with the pathogen in your blood. So, control yourself as well as Ragnarok.”   
Maka didn’t recognize the boy, but she did feel a familiar dual-wavelength emanating from him.   
“What do you people want with me?”   
The large man binding her smirked, before thumping her on the head. Her vision went black and she slumped in his grasp. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in blackness with no way out of a locked room. She tried everything from kicking the door down, to screaming for help, but nothing worked. Finally, she had sat on the ground and meditated to calm herself and help her think. After what seemed like ages, she heard the door opening and jumped to her feet, putting herself up to the wall as someone walked in. It was the boy from before.  
“It’s me. I have some food for you. Your lucky, you know. When I’d get locked in here, lady Medusa wouldn’t give me anything to eat.”  
Maka relaxed as he stooped down to put a tray in the middle of the floor. The door was still wide open, but as soon as she thought that she could make a run for it, there was a girl standing there in a polka-dotted dress and an odd, pointed hat. From her soul-wavelength, Maka could tell that she was no doubt a witch.   
“Don’t get any clever ideas, girly.”  
Maka frowned. “Mind telling me why I’m here?”  
The girl smirked, just like the big guy had. “I don’t think I should be the one to tell you that. Medusa will be along shortly. She has some errands to attend to first. While your waiting, I thought you might like some dinner.”  
Maka looked to where the boy was still kneeling on the floor beside the tray. Cautiously, she came across from him and knelt as well. He visibly tensed as she approached, and couldn’t help but wonder if he was a prisoner as well from the way he acted and what he’d just said. Grabbing the glass of blood on the tray, she sniffed it before taking a sip. It tasted just like deer blood, but cold.   
“So, if you’re not going to tell me why I’m here, then maybe you can tell me who you are at least?”  
“I’m Eruka Frog.” The girl said simply.  
Maka was now looking pointedly at the boy, and he flinched before answering. “Uh… I’m Crona… R-Ragnarok… both?”  
“You mentioned before that you knew me, but I don’t remember you.”  
The boy rubbed his head. “You hit me. Ragnarok anyway…”   
Maka made a surprised ‘O’ with her mouth, and pounded her fist into her hand. “Oh, I get it. That’s why I’m picking up two wavelengths from you. You’re similar to a Dunpeal, but instead of just becoming a weapon you transform into another creature. That big blob monster.” Her expression became lethal suddenly. “You almost killed Soul.”   
Crona retreated backwards and whimpered. “Ragnarok is the one who did that.”  
“So, you have no control over your other half?”  
“He’s the weapon in me, he’s stronger. When I can’t deal with something, he does it for me.”  
“That’s enough Crona, she’s had her meal. Now let’s leave her.” Eruka said.  
He turned to look at her and nodded, grabbing the empty tray, before casting one more glance at Maka. She thought he almost looked apologetic, but everything about the boy’s demeanor was sorry. Eruka shut the door after them as he exited and locked the door.  
Alone in the darkness once again, Maka curled her legs to her chest and sighed. Hoping that whatever came next, came soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
Descending the steps of the castle into its bowels, Lord Death held himself with a sober posture and a somber attitude that was completely out of character for him.  
“I should have foreseen that something like this might happen.” He said aloud to the group that followed after him.   
Amongst the group were Soul, Professor Stein and Spirit, Kid, Liz, and Patty, and Tsubaki, and Black Star. They were all following Lord Death down into the bottom of the school as he explained why Maka had been taken.   
“What do you mean by that?” Soul said, his voice was strained with frustrated worry. How could he have let this happen!  
“When a Dunpeal, like Maka, is born, usually only weapon traits are displayed because of the dominant gene. Maka is a rare Dunpeal, because she inherited the Meister genetics. It only happens every other couple of generations in vampires. It makes her blood and soul very special. It’s no wonder that someone would want to take her for that reason.” Lord Death elaborated. “Not many know how to make a vampire anymore, but it seems that someone figured out a way. The creature that attacked you both in your apartment is known as a demon-sword. He possesses the abilities of a weapon, but he was not born a vampire. The witch who created this child was determined to see him become a Dunpeal, and by extension, a Keishan, although it seems that that person’s plan has failed.”   
“The witches who I warned you about are the ones who took Maka. We’ve been aware of their agenda for some time, but we never imagined they’d attempt a direct infiltration of the city, let alone the school. That’s part of the reason we wanted all of the students to start getting on the offensive. Not only are the witches planning something with Maka, but the rest of us as well.” Stein said.  
“So, why are we running into the basement, shouldn’t we be out looking for Maka?” Black Star asked.  
“The witches that took Maka are long gone, but one of them is still here, I can feel her soul’s wavelength. We have to get to her before we can help Maka.”   
“That still doesn’t explain why we’re running to the basement. What’s down here, dad?” Kid demanded.   
Lord Death stopped and turned to look at all of them. “The first Keishan.”  
The entire group stopped dead and the kids all unanimously blurted, “WHAT?!”  
Lord Death turned around and began moving again with the others close behind. “Ashura is his name. I bound him to this school, just as I bound my own soul to this city. The way to make a vampire from scratch is linked to Ashura’s creation as well. You see, Ashura is a very fearful being. He felt that in order to prolong his life, he had to steal it from others by consuming their souls. This made him immortal, but at the cost of human lives. Desperate to find a way of defeating him and protecting my clan, I discovered that by drinking the blood of an immortal, you could yourself, become one without taking life. My clan and I did just that, capturing Ashura and drinking his blood, until he was stripped of every last drop of it; leaving him alive but in a bag of his own skin. The price for immortality, though, was that we had to continue to drink blood, or else we ourselves would perish. Some chose that path, but those of us who have lived for thousands of years were able to pass on our gift of immortality to our children without having to have them partake of an immortal’s blood. They are born with the pathogen that makes them vampires.”  
The stairs became a long, flat corridor that the group continued down.  
“Weapons possess a higher percentage of this pathogen in their blood, giving them the ability to transform their physical bodies, where as Meisters are more mentally enabled when it comes to detecting souls and blood. This witch we’re after is here in the basement as we speak, most likely trying to revive Ashura somehow with the blood she created to make the demon-sword. I gathered this much when I saw the black residue left behind on the floor of Maka and Soul’s apartment. Soul, that blade cut you… there is a chance that it’s blood is now mixed with your own.”  
Soul faltered in his stride briefly, before regaining his composure. Lord Death turned to look at him for a long moment, before turning back around.  
“Maka… Maka healed me by sealing my wound with her venom. Does that mean that she has the same black blood inside of her now?” Soul asked.   
Lord Death shrugged. “Hard to say. You’ve never tasted her blood, have you?”  
Soul couldn’t help but blush. “N-no!”   
Spirit’s eyebrow twitched violently, although he kept his mouth shut.  
“The reason I ask is because her blood is not the same kind as most vampires. It has a special chemistry to it. If it had been the other way around, and you had tasted her blood…”  
A violent crash sounded ahead and all of them hurried as fast as they could toward it. The moment they came upon the witch, she was standing before a man who looked like he was bundled in many scarves. Medusa glanced over her shoulder with a smug grin at the stunned group of vampires.   
“Nice of you all to join us.” She crooned.  
The man before her withdrew his wrappings to reveal a pale face with red eyes that turned white around his pupils. His hair looked like eyes were scattered throughout it because of the white and black patterns it held.   
“Death, so good of you to visit after all these years.” He sneered.  
The king of vampires exhaled a chilling breath. “Ashura.”  
“That man is…” Black Star began.  
“The Keishan.” Kid finished.   
Soul felt something then. A possessive hunger that warned of unbridled insanity. It was coming from the Keishan. A voice inside Soul’s head told him that he was in danger; that they all were, but he wasn’t about to let this witch get away without finding out where she’d taken Maka. He ignored the man and focused his attention on the witch.   
“Why are you doing this?” He shouted. “What purpose could you possibly want Maka for?”  
Medusa chuckled. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I am Medusa Gorgon, the mistress of snakes. You must be Soul Eater. Yes, I know who you are. Tell me, how does my black blood feel flowing through your veins? It must be interesting to know that you now share the same blood as the Keishan himself.”  
Soul set his jaw in a grimace and growled. “I don’t care about your stupid black blood! Tell me where Maka is right now!”  
A hand took hold of Soul’s arm and he whipped his head around, ready to attack the person that had grabbed him. It was Spirit.   
“Easy, Soul…” He gave the younger scythe a reassuring smile before releasing him and stepping forward towards their opponents. “My daughter better be alright when we find her,” His arm morphed into an unmistakable sickle blade that gleamed threatingly. “Or I’ll kill you.”   
Medusa chuckled before waving her arms in a pattern of movements that resembled a snake’s. “Make snake. Cobra, cobra.”   
A long arrow shot towards the group and Spirit deflected it with his scythe arm. The first arrow was followed by a second and third in rapid secession, giving him no time to falter. Professor Stein reacted quicker than Lord Death, and got to Spirit first as he transformed completely into a scythe. Ashura crouched down before launching himself upward and bursting through the ceiling into the streets of the city above. Lord Death immediately shot up after him. Medusa did not falter in her attack, but Spirit managed to call out to the kids.  
“All of you need to get out of here! Let us take care of Medusa!”   
The children all shared a unified look before Tsubaki and the twins all transformed in synchronization. Black Star and Kid caught hold of them as Soul shouted back to Spirit.   
“You need to help Lord Death so that the Keishan won’t get away!” He said, running forward. “Professor Stein! Wield me instead!”  
Stein caught hold of Soul as he transformed, and crossed his blade with Spirit’s to block Medusa just as she sent another arrow their way.  
“He’s right. Spirit, you are Lord Death’s scythe, he needs you. Soul and I can block Medusa. You and the kids should get above ground as fast as possible and help Lord Death.”   
Spirit transformed as Stein sliced the arrow apart, and backflipped away towards the stairs at a full sprint with the others in pursuit. Stein and Soul were left to face Medusa alone.  
The witch laughed wickedly. “They’ll never make it in time. Ashura is already on his way out of the city as we speak, and then my plans will be one step further along.”  
“I think you have little faith in our king and my students. I wouldn’t underestimate an over protective father, either. At least not that one.” Stein smirked, taking Soul in both hands, and lunging after Medusa.   
“Perhaps,” She jumped out of the way just in time and sent another bundle of writhing arrows towards the professor, which he blocked. “I never have been able to fathom the unconditional love people can have for their children, especially if they turn out to be as disappointing as my own.”  
She pointed at the floor where Stein stood and said, “Vector arrow!”  
A succession of black arrows appeared that launched Stein into the air towards her. He swung back Soul and made a move to strike, but as he swung back, Medusa sent a massive snake head towards him, forcing him to attack the snake instead. The both of them fell deftly to the ground and faced each other in compromise.   
“You don’t seem to be very motherly to me. I can’t imagine who would have a child with you.”  
“He’s out of the picture now, just as you two soon shall be!” Medusa let out a yell as the snake reappeared from behind Stein and she came from the front with more arrows.   
At the last possible moment, Stein jumped out of the way, sending the snake head after Medusa, who was unable to block it in time. It bit her in half and she fell to the floor with a wet thud, bleeding out. Despite her mortal injury, she laughed out a combination of chuckles and coughs.   
“It seems I was mistaken. You really are an admirable meister, I think I may have a crush on you now.”  
Stein came over and knelt beside the dying witch just as Soul morphed out of his weapon form and stood with a hysterical expression. “Where is Maka! Tell us before you croak!”   
Medusa laughed. “It’s no good, little boy. Your meister is mine now. Soon her blood and soul will feed the Keishan as well, and the world will be reshaped the way we want it to be.”  
Soul shook with rage, before seizing Medusa by the front of her shirt and hoisting her bloody torso into the air. Tears made his eyes glisten. “You evil witch, tell me where she is right now, or I’ll make sure you live long enough to feel real pain!”   
“Soul!” Stein pushed his way between the two of them just as Medusa bit down and made contact with Stein’s shoulder.   
“Ugh!” He wrenched her from his arm and threw her away from the both of them where she let out one last bitter chuckle.   
Soul froze, seeing the seeping wound in the professor’s jacket. It bled a mixture of red and black.   
“Professor Stein, you…”   
“Don’t worry about it right now.” Stein said through gritted teeth. “We have to catch up to the others.”  
Soul cast a mournful glance at the witch and then nodded once before the both of them ran up the castle stairs, leaving Medusa’s severed body behind.

Out on the streets above, Soul and Stein could see the devastation left over from Death’s fight with the Keishan. Craters littered the cobblestone roads, and civilians were still rushing about in a panicked flurry. A group of vampires stood out amongst the rest, two of them being lifted by their weapons.   
“Black Star! Kid!” Soul yelled, rushing towards his friends.   
“They’re okay. They’re just passed out.” Tsubaki explained.   
Lord Death stood with part of his mask missing, having been blown off by a blast from the Keishan’s soul wavelength. Spirit stood beside him forlornly.   
“Where’s Ashura?” Professor Stein asked.  
Spirit shook his head miserably. Lord Death sighed. “He somehow knew that I couldn’t pass through the city limits. He got away. Were you able to stop Medusa?”  
Stein nodded.  
“We didn’t find out where they took Maka though…” Soul whispered bitterly.  
Lord Death clapped a hand over Soul’s shoulder, until the younger boy looked up at him.   
“Don’t worry Soul, I promise you we will find her."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
Maka didn’t know how many days it had been now. It was hard to tell when she was kept in the dark, and her only guess was by how many times she slept for what felt like several hours. Her most troubling concern at the moment, however, was that she hadn’t fed since that first time they’d brought her blood. They were still feeding her to keep her from starving completely, but without blood she was starting to lose her grasp of reality due to the intense thirst she felt. She had stared talking out loud to herself to ease the boredom and because she was actually starting to go mad.  
“Man, I wish I could hunt. Deer blood, or maybe something larger like a moose would be more filling.” She was making herself salivate. “I don’t even care if it’s cold in a glass!” She shouted, hoping they’d hear her and bring some.   
She picked at the tattered lace at the end of her party dress and undid her hair, to ease the ache the tight ponytails had caused to her scalp. Running her fingers through her hair, she massaged her head with a sigh.  
“That’s better. You know what would be really great, though? If I could get out of here. At this point I don’t know if I’ve gone blind, or if it’s still dark. The crack under the door says it’s light outside, but is it day or night? Am I in a room, or a cave with a door? The walls are flat, it’s not a cave. And the floor is smooth like tile. I really wish there was a toilet in here.”   
They hadn’t done her the decency of letting her out to use a bathroom, so she had designated a corner of the room for that. It was one by the door, so that they would have to deal with the stench as soon as they walked in. If they ever did again…  
Walking her way across the floor, having become familiar with the room after exploring, Maka stood so that her nose was only a breath away from the wood of the door. Putting her forehead against the coarse wood, she let her hand find the knob and jiggled it half-heartedly. It was locked of course, just like it always was, but she swore she could hear voices out in a hallway beyond.  
“This doesn’t seem right to me…” A woman’s voice said, who Maka didn’t recognize.  
The second voice belonged to Eruka. “Do you want Medusa to torture you, too? You know we can’t back out of this, Blaire. It’s for the good of our kind, so just keep your mouth shut.”  
“But, I’m not even a real witch! It’s just an honorary title.”  
“You’ll lose more than your title if you don’t learn to shut-up.” A third voice said.  
There was the sound of a scuffle, and Maka banged on the door.  
“Hey, let me out!” Her own voice sounded so hoarse from thirst that she tried swallowing her own spit in dry gulps. “I need blood! Please!”  
The noise outside stopped briefly, before Eruka spoke to her from the other side. “Oh, does the poor little vampire feel thirsty? Don’t worry, Lady Medusa is already back, so you’ll be out of there shortly. Come on you two, let’s not keep the snake waiting.”  
Their footsteps became distant, and Maka slumped back onto the floor with frustrated tears spilling out of her eyes. She just wanted to go home to Soul.

Maka was still curled up on herself against the door when it opened. She hastily got to her feet and spun around to see Crona being shoved into the room with her. Out in the hall stood Free, Eruka, and a small girl who looked like a miniature version of Medusa.   
“Well Crona, it appears that your usefulness has reached its limit. Now you can be vampire fodder. I was planning on injecting the black blood into her, but this way I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.”  
“PLEASE! Don’t put me in here with her!” Crona cried, stretching out a desperate hand towards the minute woman.   
She had no expression of mercy on her face, only a permanent grimace of disgust. Free pulled close the door and there was the locking of a deadbolt as the trio walked away. Crona still held his pose on the floor, shaking. Maka could smell the black blood inside of him, it wasn’t particularly appetizing, but she didn’t care. Coming up behind the boy, she grabbed his shoulders and bit into the side of his neck with primal hunger.   
It was hard to sink her teeth into his flesh, but not anymore difficult than biting into a stale loaf of bread. His blood was thick and syrupy, not wanting to come out. Maka sucked hard, desperate enough for even a mere mouthful. The taste wasn’t like blood at all, but more like charcoal, and she pulled back and spat. It was too late though; the blood had gone down her throat.  
At first, she thought that she was hallucinating, but then she realized that she had gone off somewhere not in her own head, but Crona’s. It was like she was seeing through his eyes. She felt terrified and had a dull pain in her neck. Memories flashed through her mind like a movie reel. First of a young Crona being strapped down and injected with black blood, then of him being forced to consume blood from a small animal that looked like a little dragon. The second memory lasted longer, revealing that he not only had drank it’s blood, but that Medusa had made him drain it to death, consuming it’s soul as well.   
Maka clutched her head and slumped down behind Crona, who was still frozen from shock.   
“W-what was that?” She asked quietly, more to herself than to him.  
Crona turned hesitantly and looked back at her. “You, didn’t kill me? Why? Does my blood not taste good? Is it too hard to drink?”  
“No…” She shook her head, unable to focus completely. “No. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Killing is wrong, unless you have to do it.” She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “But, yeah your blood is pretty nasty, too… You’re her son. That witch, Medusa’s.”  
“You saw my memories? I thought that that was a myth. Vampires can’t really do that by drinking blood, can they?”  
“I… I don’t know. I’m a Dunpeal, so maybe that means I can, but… I never was able to before.”   
“The black blood might have something to do with that.” Crona turned around fully and sat across from her at a safer distance. “It’s a mixture of Medusa’s magic and the blood from a werewolf, vampire, and my own human blood. The reason Medusa wants your blood and the Keishan’s is so that she can create a perfected version of it. For some reason, it seems to cause whoever has it in their system to go mad, but I’m used to it.”  
“Your name is Crona, right?” Maka said, scooting towards him with a smile, even though he couldn’t see it. “I’m Maka Albarn.”  
“I know. You’re all that anyone ever talks about around here besides the Keishan and the revolution.”  
“Revolution?”  
“Uh-huh. Lady Medusa and Lady Arachne have been planning it since before I was born, along with all of their followers. The council of witches wants to see Lord Death and the rest of the vampires fall out of power, so that they can be the supreme rulers. I was supposed to be the one to help them achieve that goal, but I’m a failed experiment.”  
Maka could hear the sadness in his voice and she found his hand in the dark and squeezed it comfortingly. Crona tensed at the initial contact but then let his hand grip hers back.   
“Seems like we both are in for Hell…”  
The door opening suddenly, startled both of them so badly that they instinctively had clung to one another. A scantly clad witch walked in wearing nothing more than some short-shorts a bikini top with an open jacket over it and a pointed black hat atop her head.   
“Blaire? What are you doing here?” Crona asked, still holding onto Maka’s arm.  
The witch placed a hushing finger to her lips and gestured for them both to follow her quickly. The kids got up and walked hurriedly after her down a long monochromatic hallway. When they reached the end of it, Blaire put up a hand for them to wait while she peaked around the corner. After a quick glance, she waved them forward.   
“You kids shouldn’t be treated like this, it isn’t right. I joined with this stupid organization in order to help people, but I never thought we’d resort to kidnapping children or feeding them to each other.” Blaire explained as they walked.  
They came to a door and she hastily opened it. A sparse dessert landscape lay beyond, and Maka could immediately feel the warm, fresh air.   
“Come on.” Blaire waved, but then paused. “Oh, wait, you won’t burn in the sun light, will you?”  
Maka tried not to frown. “No. That’s a total myth.”  
“Oh. Okay, good.”   
The trio exited out onto the sandy ground and Blaire quickly shut the door behind them and herded the kids to a formation of rocks a few feet away. Nestled in between the boulders was a broomstick.  
“Pum-pum-pumpkin.” Blaire said, swishing her finger at the broom.   
It jumped up and hovered in the air, waiting for her to mount it. Blaire climbed on and patted the back of the broom for Crona and Maka to join her. Crona hesitantly grabbed Blaire’s hips, and Maka wrapped her arms around him.  
“Hang on tight you two.” Without another word, the broom zipped skyward, and Crona and Maka both tightened their grips.   
Looking down at the place where they had been, Maka could see a compound of sorts that was skillfully hidden to look like a random plateau in the middle of the dessert. Bringing her face forward again, she could see the vast dessert as it stretched away towards a distant black dot.   
“Death City is that way. Don’t you two worry, I’ll get you both there safely.” Blaire shouted over the rush of wind.   
Maka was so relieved. Soon she would be back home with her friends and family and this nightmare would be over. Just as she thought this however, she felt a small nip on her leg and looked down to see a little black spider there. Maka squished the irksome bug, and rubbed at her sore leg. While she examined the bite, her vision seemed to go spotty, and she suddenly couldn’t feel the broom beneath her anymore.   
“MAKA!” Crona and Blaire both yelled as she hurtled toward the distant sand below.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
Blaire shot the broom downward as fast as she could and called back to Crona.  
“You have to catch her!”  
Crona released her waist and squeezed the broom with his thighs, while reaching out in time to grab Maka, who was still unconscious, by the arm. The force of her weight made him spin upside down on the broom and it yanked him off as well. They both fell while Blaire struggled to stay on the broom herself and steer it toward them again. Crona was clutching Maka to himself in an effort to keep his grip on her from slipping, as he transformed.   
The pink-haired boy morphed into a black blob creature that stretched itself out until it became arrow-dynamic. The overall shape was almost like a dragon, but not quite reptilian. Ragnarok gripped Maka in makeshift talons and flapped his rubbery wings against the wind, forcing their momentum to slow until they were gliding through mid-air. Blaire watched the display with awe. Both of them came to a landing, and Crona morphed back into his human body, holding Maka up in his lap.  
“What happened? Is it lack of blood or something? Can vampires get heat-stroke?” Blaire asked looking desperately at the unconscious girl.  
Crona patted Maka’s cheek lightly. “Maka? Hey, Maka wake-up!”  
Maka groaned and peeled open her eyes with effort. “Huh? What…” Her eyes closed again, and she was out like a light.   
“We have to keep moving, were almost there. We can’t be more than a mile outside of Death City. I’ll carry her legs, come on.” Blaire said, picking up Maka’s feet.  
They carried her the rest of the way to the city’s gates and inside. People glanced over at the sight of the witch and the boy carrying the girl and soon Crona and Blaire were surrounded by suspicious vampires.   
“Hold it right there!” A voice called out.  
Blaire and Crona stopped, with Maka hanging limply in their arms.  
A man with facial piercings stepped out of the crowd and addressed them.  
“What does a witch think she’s doing in Death City? Your kind aren’t welcome here. Especially after what your order just did to one of our clan members. You should leave n-” His words cut off when he saw who they were holding, and his eyes grew wide.  
“Wait, is that?”  
“This is Maka Albarn, and she’s hurt. She needs a doctor.” Blaire stated.  
The man became skeptical, eyeballing Blaire.  
“How do we know this isn’t a trick?”  
“I’m not a real witch, I was a part of their order, but I’m actually just a werecat who was granted magical powers. I don’t stand for what they’re trying to do anymore.”  
“And what about you?” The man said, nodding his chin towards Crona. “You don’t smell like a regular vampire, which means you aren’t a part of our clan.”  
“No, I’m not. My name is Crona Gorgon, I am the demon swordsman.”  
A surprised murmur went through the crowd that had gathered. Before the man could ask any further questions, a startling cry rang out from the crowd.  
“MAKA!” Soul shouted, barreling through the amassed bodies in the street.  
He blew past the man with piercings and threw his arms around her limp body, looking up at Crona with confounded ferocity.   
“What happened to her?!” He demanded.  
Crona looked startled, but spoke clearly. “We’re not sure. We were escaping from the witches’ compound when she passed out. She hasn’t had any blood in several days aside from mine, but I don’t think it helped her.”  
Soul took Maka from them without waiting for permission, and lugged her onto his back before getting ready to book it to the academy infirmary. Blaire and Crona ran after him, with the irritated man who had stopped them left behind in the dust.

When Maka opened her eyes, they felt heavy and weighed down. Forcing them wider, she saw that she was in the school’s infirmary, with a concerned Soul holding onto her hand for dear life. The surprise of her surroundings made her alert.   
“Soul!” She was propped up on the infirmary bed, but she couldn’t move for some reason.   
Without a word, Soul reached for the rest of her and pulled her into a loving embrace, kissing her forehead and then her lips. Maka was surprised by the uncouth kiss, but didn’t pull back; partly because she couldn’t, but mostly because she didn’t want to. They were alone for the moment, so there was no one to scold them for the action. When Soul did pull away, he placed the hand that didn’t hold Maka’s on her cheek and looked at her with an overwhelmed smile.  
“Maka, thank Death you’re alright.” He said softly, trying to resume a bedside manner.  
“Why can’t I move?”  
Soul’s smile vanished, and he gripped her hand tighter, sitting back in the chair beside her bed. “Those witches… they did something to you. Professor Stein says that it isn’t permanent, but it looks like whatever they used to paralyze you isn’t the only thing in your system. That kid who brought you here, he said you drank some of his blood?”  
“Crona? Is he alright? And Blaire. They’re the ones who helped me escape. Where are they?”  
“Calm down, they’re both fine. Blaire is going to be staying with us from now on, and Crona is staying with Stein and Marie. They already went through extensive background checks, and although Lord Death isn’t sure if we can fully trust them, he would rather keep them close to the city where he can keep an eye on them then send them back out to the witches’ compound.”  
“How long have I been out?”   
“Almost two days. Professor Stein is trying to circulate the black blood you ingested out of your system, but it’s a little difficult since he can’t give you a transfusion of Dunpeal blood. The paralyzing toxin in your body seems to be strengthened by it. He says it could be a while before you’re able to move again.”  
Maka glanced over at a glass of blood that had been left over on the beside table, and Soul followed her gaze. With a smirk, he grabbed the glass and propped it up to her lips. She gulped the delicious red liquid down with dehydrated vigor and sighed when she finished.   
“Thanks.”  
Soul smiled at her again and moved her messy bangs out of her face. “I get you back just to have you stuck in the hospital, not cool at all.”  
A knock on the door startled them both, before Tsubaki and Black Star entered. Black Star’s eyes widened when he saw that Maka was awake and came over to give her an over enthusiastic hug.   
“Finally! I was worried you were a goner!” He removed himself and stood back beside Tsubaki, who was holding a bouquet of camellias in her hands.   
“It’s nice that you’re up now. Everyone’s come to say hi, but you were still sleeping.”  
Soul nodded. “It’s true. Kid and the twins were here only a few hours ago, and I finally had to tell your creepy old dad to get lost. He’ll probably be back in no time, though.”  
Professor Stein came in then. “Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling Maka?”   
“Much better now that I’m home. Soul told me that Crona is with you and Marie, how is he?”  
“Hmm. Well, he seems to be adjusting. Marie of course is helping him feel comfortable. Leave it to my sweet wife to comfort the most disturbed of souls. He keeps wanting to see you, though.”  
“I’d like to see him, too.”  
“I’ll pass the word along, but for now I need to speak with Tsubaki and Black Star.”  
Black Star nodded once. “Sure. We’ll see you two around, and Maka, you get up on your feet real soon, ya hear?”   
Maka smiled reassuringly at him.

Out in the hallway, Stein closed the infirmary door behind them and withdrew a cigarette from his coat. Sticking it into his mouth, he lit it without concern for the fact that they were inside a school.   
“It’s about the witches’ compound. They’ve moved. There isn’t a single trace of them anywhere near their dessert hide-out.”  
Black Star and Tsubaki both blanched.   
“They’re gone? Just like that?”   
Stein exhaled a puff of smoke. “Yes. They must’ve known we’d come after them after realizing that Maka had escaped. They could be anywhere now. Sid and Nigis have been leading a strike team with Azusa to locate the witches. We’re not sure if the Keishan is with them at this point, or acting on his own, so Justin is busy tracking Ashura separately. Also, there is another troubling matter… Crona explained to me that the black blood in his system, as well as in Maka’s, has vampire DNA contained in it’s chemistry. That means that one of our clan members is a double agent for the witches.”  
A stunned silence fell over them as their faces grew ominous.   
“The traitor could be anyone. Most likely an older vampire involved with the security of the City. That would explain how Medusa was able to infiltrate the school and take Maka. If we can discover who the traitor is, then they might give us a lead on where the witches are hiding.”  
“So, you want us to sniff out the rat?” Black Star smiled, punching his fist into his palm.  
“If you could keep your eyes open, then yes that would be a convenience to us all. Maka and Soul are going to be out of commission for a while, so we need all able bodied partners to help in the upcoming battle that is likely to unfold.”  
Tsubaki and Black Star both nodded determinedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
“I don’t like this. Having children accompany us is one thing, but on top of that it had to be him?” Azusa asked, adjusting her glasses.   
Sid continued walking along beside her through a dense jungle of bamboo. They had gotten a lead from their scouts about a temporary witches’ lair located deep in the heart of it and were currently seeking it out.   
“As usual, Black Star’s reputation precedes him, I see. I understand how you feel. I don’t like the idea of an ego maniac spoiling our operation, but he is one of our top fighters, and Tsubaki comes from a gifted bloodline. More of the students would have been selected if they were as skilled as the ones tagging along today, but with most of them not having enough field experience, that would cause more of a hassle than an advantage. Still, I do wish we had more options. I keep having a bad feeling that this won’t end well.”  
Azusa hummed her agreement. “We should remain optimistic, that will give us an edge. Even with my clairvoyance I have no idea how today will pan out, but we do have you and your team after all, that’s got to count for something.”  
Sid chuckled darkly. “You know, when I was a human I was a lot less fearful. When Lord Death turned me into his personal servant of the undead, I didn’t even feel vengeful. I knew that whatever situation I got into, or was assigned, it was because I made a decision that led me into it. I still know that, but the longer I live the more I realize that it’s wiser to be cautious. I don’t know if it’s the Keishan being set loose that’s gotten to me, or if I’m just getting old, but I do know this; fear of the unknown is terrifying, but so is repeating something that’s already a known fear. I hope those kids who go bravely into a fight never lose that confidence. It’s the greatest strength someone can have. So, that’s why I’m glad we have Black Star. He may be an idiot, but at least he’s got faith in himself.”

Tsubaki and Black Star were not with the group of adults who were busy scouring the forest. Instead, Black Star was carrying Tsubaki in her short-sword form and they were approaching the bamboo jungle’s center from a different entry point.   
“Hey, Black Star, don’t you think we should have stuck together?” Tsubaki tried.  
“Hah! Those morons would probably just slow me down. Besides, grouping together like that will make their scents’ stronger to the enemy. While they create a distraction, I can come behind for the kill shot, and then everyone will see how I’m the big shot amongst all of them.” Black Star bragged cockily.  
“Um… but we’re not fighting other vampires so how will they be able to detect our scent?”  
Black Star paused in his stride for a long moment. “…Then this will be even easier than I thought! Everyone knows that vampires are the strongest beings in the world. Those stupid witches don’t stand a chance! Especially against me, cause I’m the strongest vampire who ever lived!”  
The sudden noise of wind shot past Black Star’s ears as something cut through his hair and nearly scalped him. Blood erupted from a shallow graze, and he yelled in surprised pain.   
“AHHHHHH!” Black Star screamed, holding his injury and stomping around dramatically.   
“Black Star!” Tsubaki called.  
Footfalls on dry leaves sounded from the direction the projectile had originated and after a few seconds, a tall man with long white hair emerged from the foliage. He had the stem of a bamboo leave jammed between his molars and spoke in a bored drawl.   
“Vampires, huh? Don’t know why you’re trespassing here, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave now.” He brandished a katana warningly and glared.   
“Hmph!” Black Star snorted. “You think a scrawny human like you can stand up to me? Black Star the vampire? Don’t make me laugh.”   
The man was unphased. “I may only be a human, but I can see that you’re no more than a child yourself. Not to say you couldn’t hurt me, but I’m sure that you’re more talk than skill. As I said before, you should leave now. This land belongs to a witch, and she will not be harmed by the likes of you.”  
Black Star grinned. “Aha! So, there are witches here! Good to know we’re on the right track. Sorry samurai, but we’re getting to those good for nothings who hurt my friend, and when I do, I’m gonna kick their asses’.”   
The man spat out the stem he’d been chewing and braced himself fully now. “The name’s Mifune, and I’m not going to let anything happen to those I’ve sworn to protect. You might be a kid, but if I have to kill you to keep you from hurting them, then I will.”  
A fight ensued with both Black Star and Mifune being equally matched with their weapons. Whenever Black Star did manage to relieve Mifune of his sword, he had another ready to go in a case he carried on his back. In the midst of their battle, both of them had to stop to catch their breath. Despite being a vampire, Black Star did get tired just like any human would, and he hadn’t fed in a few hours which was making him weak.   
“I’ll admit, you’re pretty skilled for a human. Although, it almost seems like you’re holding back.” Black Star panted, still keeping his guard up.  
Mifune was still guarded as well, although he looked exhausted. “I don’t want to have to kill you. It would give me nightmares to hurt a kid. I can’t imagine what Angela could have done to incur the wrath of vampires… Wait… That mark on your arm,”  
Black Star glanced to the tattoo adorning his exposed shoulder. It was the mark of his clan. Of his shamed family. He had received it as an infant, just as his father before him. Although all vampires belonged to the clan governed by Lord Death, there were smaller families as well.  
“What of it?” He griped.  
“Star clan. Yes, I thought I recognized that arrogance. You’re the son of White Star, aren’t you?”   
Black Star’s grip tightened around Tsubaki, and she took note of it. His tone was dark. “So, what? It doesn’t have anything to do with our current fight, so what does it matter whose son I am?”  
Mifune smirked. “A lot actually. I’m the reason you weren’t killed along with your parents.”   
A harsh wave of coldness ran through Tsubaki’s hilt, and she knew that it had been from Black Star.   
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. My parents were killed because they became monsters, plain as that. They chose to abandon me and turn to a life of feeding on souls. They were selfish gluttons who craved power.”  
Mifune sheathed his sword slowly as Black Star watched with guarded eyes.   
“Yes. I was the last one to see your parents alive. They had no humanity left in them. My entire village had been slaughtered and they were the cause. I tracked them down after being given the mission to finish off the entire Star clan, and that’s exactly what I did. Your father died by my blade, and when I entered his home, I found your mother with you. She offered you up to me in exchange for her own life. I was so sickened that a mother could do that to her own child…” Mifune’s eyes were glassy with haunting memories.  
“Shut-up.” Black Star said, barely audible. His tone was lethal.  
Mifune ignored him. “When all was said and done, I was left with two options. Either kill the vampire infant that had been left behind, or take you to your own kind to be raised by those who would show you more love than your own parents. I have no particular love for vampires myself, but even so, an innocent soul remains an innocent soul. Tell me, Black Star the vampire, was my empathy wasted that day?”  
Tsubaki couldn’t take any more of the intense pain and anger that flowed from Black Star’s soul wavelength. She transformed out of her weapon form and placed one hand on her partner’s shoulder. He was tense as stone, but did not make a move to shrug her off. Glancing severely from Black Star to Mifune, Tsubaki held the samurai’s gaze.   
“That’s enough. Black Star knows exactly who he is, he doesn’t need you to remind him of his unfortunate past. It’s not his fault his parents became what they did. That was their decision. It doesn’t matter who they were, all that matters is that Black Star strives to be the strongest he can be.”  
She could feel the minute relaxing of his muscles as she spoke. Mifune nodded.   
“It seems that my good intentions weren’t wasted on you then. That partner of yours has complete faith in you, and I can tell that she is no weakling. Still, I can’t have you disturbing Angela. You see…”  
“MIFUNE!” A shrill voice called from the bamboo.   
Mifune whipped around and stooped to catch a small girl in a bizarre pointed hat and dark gown as she rushed into his arms.   
“Angela? You shouldn’t be away from your room right now. There are intruders in the forest.”  
“That’s why I came looking for you! Angie saw scary people coming toward the castle and big sister Eruka said to come find you.”   
Mifune turned to look back at the weapon and Meister who stood dumbfounded by the sudden interruption.   
“We’ll have to continue another time, then. I’m sworn to protect Angela at all costs, so we’ll be taking our leave. Don’t try to follow us.”  
With that, the samurai took off with his tiny witch in tow.   
Black Star returned to his normal attitude as if the whole exchange had never happened. “Well that was random. We don’t need to worry about those two for now. All that matters is getting to the Keishan, and I doubt that that midget knows anything about that. Come on Tsubaki, let’s go.”  
Tsubaki followed her Meister obediently, but couldn’t help but feel the resonating ache that wasn’t her own. 

“Well, looks like this was nothing more than a dead end after all.” Sid sighed, keeping a firm grip on his captive. It was none other than Eruka.  
Although her body was bound in coil after coil of rope, her mouth had been left un-gagged and she was using that to her full advantage. “You stupid zombie! You’ll all be sorry when Arachnophobia gets their hands on you! Let me go!”  
Despite her wriggling, she was tightly secured, and finally resigned with an exasperated slump. Black Star and Tsubaki came upon them then.  
“Is this the witch who hurt Maka?” Black Star glared at Eruka with hostile intent, and she flinched.   
“Oh, you’re friends with the Dunpeal girl? You know I actually took care of her while she was with us…”  
Black Star had grabbed her by the front of her shirt that was sticking out above her bindings, and hoisted her into the air with his other fist poised to strike. “You’re friends with the witch who let the Keishan out, huh? Then maybe you can point us in the right direction, and maybe, just maybe I’ll spare your teeth when I let you know what happens to people who even think about messing with my friends.”   
Eruka gulped. “I-I-I don’t know! Really! Medusa was supposed to rendezvous with us here, but I ended up getting set up as bait along with my little sister! Huh?” She looked around anxiously. “Angela? She’s not here… What did you do with her? That samurai was supposed to be protecting us! Did you guys drain him or something?”   
Black Star released Eruka, realizing she wasn’t going to be any help at all and turned to leave with a bored expression. “Don’t worry about that little shrimp or your bodyguard. They left. Don’t know where. Come on Sid, we should blow this dump. The Keishan isn’t here.”   
Not caring if the adults actually followed him or not, Black Star strolled away through the bamboo forest with Tsubaki trailing after.

“I’m proud of you, you know.” Tsubaki said when they were a distance out of the bamboo forest. “You could have let your anger get to you back there, but instead you showed just how much control you really have. People seem to think you act out of brash ego, but I know that you’re just trying to show everyone how great you really can be. You don’t have to be constantly proving yourself, though, you know? No one really expects you to become a god.”  
Black Star had stopped walking and Tsubaki, who was walking beside him, stopped as well. She gave him a curious look, before he put a hand up to pat the top of her head and pulled her down to nuzzle her cheek. After her initial surprise she smiled, and he released her, and they continued walking.  
“Tsubaki, I really am glad to have you as my partner. Not many other weapons can fully grasp my superior awesomeness.”  
She laughed with an underline of tolerance. “Your really are one in a million.”  
He smirked. “Yeah, you too.”  
“I wonder if we’ll find the Keishan soon.”   
Black Star shrugged. “He has to come out eventually, and when he does, I’ll be ready for him.”  
They continued on home toward Death City, no closer to finding the Keishan, but with optimism in their hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
Maka had been sleeping for what felt like too long. It was so warm and comfy that she couldn’t help herself. After a while, though, she noticed that it was too warm.  
“Huh?” She peeled open her eyes and realized that there was a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and a very warm body pressed up to her.  
“Is that you, Soul?”  
Soul was breathing evenly, every exhale shifting her hair. She smiled and wrapped her own arms around his. Maka closed her eyes again and hazily realized that she could move now but, ironically, she just wanted to stay put. This felt safe and she didn’t want it to end, even if he was making her too hot. She had just drifted off again when she heard a quiet voice.   
“Maka?”  
Casting a more alert gaze around the infirmary, Maka sat up without rousing Soul from his slumber.   
“Crona?” Maka asked with confusion in her tone. The room was empty. “Where are you?”  
Crona’s voice called out to her again, but this time Maka realized that she was hearing him telepathically.   
“I’m downstairs. Can you move yet?”  
“Yeah.” She thought back. “What’s wrong. Why are you in the school?”  
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came to walk around in the basement. It feels safer down here for some reason. Maybe because it’s like the home I had with Lady Medusa… That sounds wrong doesn’t it…”   
“Here, I’m coming down to you so don’t move, alright?”   
Maka deftly climbed out of bed and moved for the door, before a hand grabbed hers. She turned to see Soul looking up at her with a sleepy, but concerned expression.  
“I’m going downstairs to see Crona, he sounds lonely. I’m not going to leave the school, alright?”  
Soul nodded once and released her hand. “Should I come with you?”  
Maka shook her head. “I think it’s best if I go down alone. He seemed like he only wanted to talk to me.”  
“Can’t you both do that without speaking now?” Soul said a little begrudgingly. Maka had told him of the new-found connection a few days prior. “If he’s calling out to you in your head, then why not just talk from here?”   
“It’s hard to explain, but it’s kind of like when you’re asleep and you can hear people talking, but you can’t grasp everything they say because your own subconscious is getting in the way. It takes a lot of concentration.”  
Soul rolled over and pulled the blankets up around himself. “Whatever. Just don’t get yourself kidnapped again, okay?”  
Maka bristled at the half-assed joke, but shook it off and left quietly down to the basement. She hadn’t wandered far when she saw a heap of pink and black slouched up against one of the hallways. Squatting in front of Crona, she cocked her head to the side in ponderance.   
“Crona? Are you alright?”  
Crona shook his head before lifting it from his arms. He hadn’t been crying, but his face looked like he was about to.   
“I don’t know what to do, Maka… I’m scared.”  
She put a compassionate hand over his knee and he placed his own over hers.   
“What is it that’s got you scared? Being in this spooky basement can’t be helping.”   
Crona shook his head again. “No, it’s nice down here. It’s quiet and I can feel… familiar feelings here. I don’t want to go home, but…”   
He had begun sniffling, and Maka switched her position to sit beside Crona instead so that every inch of their sides was touching the others. Maka grabbed Crona’s hand again and squeezed it gently as he squeezed back.   
“That place wasn’t any kind of home for you, Crona. To think that you grew up being treated like that is enough to get me angry, but here, there are people who will treat you like family should. It may not feel familiar just yet, but if you spend enough time here, I’m sure you’ll get used to everything and everyone.”  
Crona nodded meekly. “O-okay.”   
“Is something else bothering you?”  
He hesitated before answering. “I know who the vampire is that betrayed your clan.”  
“What?!” Maka was so surprised that she recoiled at his words.   
“I didn’t know who he was at first, but I’ve been hearing other voices when I try to go to sleep. They’ve been there before, but now I recognize one of them as his. When Blaire and I brought you into the city, there was a man who stopped us. I didn’t know him, but his voice was familiar to me. I brushed it off, but then just a little while ago when I was trying to go to bed, I heard his voice in my head. It was like his thoughts were whispering to me. He was angry…”  
Maka shifted and placed both of her hands on Crona’s shoulders until he looked up at her.   
“We need to tell the others as quickly as possible.”

The assembly of vampires in Lord Deaths office, along with Sid, included Spirit, Professor Stein and Marie, Justin, Azusa, and Lord Death himself. The only vampire not standing as a witness, was the man with piercings who sat in a folding chair in the center of the room with the others surrounding him.   
“State your name for the record.” Spirit said without an ounce of humor in his tone.   
“Giriko.” He said, rolling his eyes. “Look, is this really necessary. I’d love to get back to bed if I may.”  
“You’re being charged with a hefty accusation right now, so I would try and get comfortable if I were you.” Stein said, adjusting his glasses.  
Giriko placed his hands behind his head in mock casualty and leered, flashing his fangs. “Alright, so what exactly am I being charged with. Isn’t that a part of my Miranda-rights to know?”  
Lord Death frowned beneath his mask. “Human law does not apply here. Certainly not when a member of my clan has the gall to go turncoat on not only my trust, but the trust of our entire race. You have been accused of being the vampire who offered up not only his blood to the witch Medusa, but also top-secret information regarding the Keishan, as well as allowing members of Arachnophobia into the city to abduct the Dunpeal Meister, Maka Albarn. You are being branded as a traitor. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”  
Giriko hunched forward and let out a slow, wicked laugh. “Traitor? If it weren’t for that slutty cat who betrayed us, we would have been able to carry out our plans in full…”  
Spirit charged forward, before Stein caught hold of him.   
“Calm yourself, Spirit!”  
The Death Scythe turned and glowered at his old friend. “You heard that bastard! He’s the reason my daughter was put through that Hell! He deserves whatever ass-kicking he has coming to him!”   
Lord Death placed a calm hand on Spirit’s shoulder, until the Death Scythe relaxed and took a step back. He then turned to address Giriko.  
“I’d say that’s enough of a confession for me. Since you are only a nuisance to us here, and you have shown an utter lack of camaraderie to your own kind, I hereby banish you from Death City for the rest of your treacherous existence.”  
Giriko smirked and stood. “That’s it? A slap on the wrist and off I go? You aren’t going to through me in your dungeon or kill me? What happened to the King of Vampires from the good old days? Tell me, how exactly did you earn your nick-name, Lord Death?”  
No one spoke, but glared intently upon the insolent man. Giriko spat disappointedly and turned to leave.   
“Alright, fine. I’ll go.”  
“Justin will escort you out.” Lord Death stated, nodding to the priestly man.   
“Terrific. What, you want me to repent on my way out?” Giriko mocked.  
Justin grabbed him by the arm, before Giriko wrenched himself free and glared at him. Justin made only a neutral expression as he followed closely behind Giriko. Once they were well out of the room, the remaining council turned to Lord Death for instruction.  
“Now then, you all know what must be done. He may be a traitor, but Giriko certainly isn’t stupid, so that is why I want you to act accordingly. Maka has just recovered, so she and Soul will be joining their hunting party once again. Marie, I want you to take Crona with you so that he can seek out the members of Arachnophobia that he has a telepathic connection with. The witches might not realize just yet that he can track them down, so we should use that to our advantage. Be prepared everyone, things are about to get very busy.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter for you guys. (More to come and hopefully sooner this time.)

Chapter 10  
The catacombs of Arachnophobia’s fortress were so dark that Giriko kept tripping over the uneven bricks in the floor.   
“God damn it! You’d think that these witches were bats living in caves like this.”   
“You should learn to watch your language when you’re in the presence of the Lady Arachne.” A short man with a large proboscis warned as he escorted the vampire further into the depths.   
“You got a problem with the way I talk, old man?”  
A vein protruded from the shorter man’s temple as he spoke through his teeth. “Watch it, punk! I may be old, but I could still take you down a few notches.”  
“Bring it on, gramps.” Giriko sneered.  
“Now, now.” A cool and sultry voice echoed as they entered a large room at the end of the hall. In the center of a colossal web that had been suspended between two pillars, sat a woman who wore a black garb that resembled the body of a spider. Laying with his head in her lap, was the Keishan. “I do detest whiny children.”   
“Please forgive me, Lady Arachne.” The shorter man bowed.   
Giriko clicked his tongue and turned from the submissive display.   
“Mosquito, why don’t you fetch some blood for all of us. We should celebrate with a toast.”   
“Yes, my lady.”  
The small man withdrew and was back in an instant with a decanter of burgundy fluid. He gave a tumbler to each of the men, but presented Arachne with a sinuous wine glass. Pouring the dark, sticky liquid into each of their glass’s, he held aloft his own.  
“To plans falling into place, and friends reunited after far too long.” Arachne proposed.   
Each of them raised their glasses before drinking down the contents. Mosquito retrieved all the cups before Arachne continued.  
“Now then, Giriko, I presume that your presence here means that Lord Death has become aware of your allegiance with Arachnophobia?”  
“Yeah, he found out. Apparently, someone knew about me somehow. My guess is it was Medusa’s kid. Blaire didn’t know about our plans on the larger scale, and neither did he, but…”  
“Well? What is it?”  
“I feel like there’s been someone watching me through my thoughts. At first, I figured I wasn’t getting enough sleep or something, but just the other night I started hearing whispers. It was like somebody was telling me to shut-up and get lost, and it really pissed me off, you know? Then I realized that I’d heard that voice before. Somehow, that kid can get inside my head.”  
Arachne’s eye’s flashed and she stroked Ashura’s head with a satisfied smile. “I wouldn’t worry about that. In fact, I think that we could use that to our advantage, now couldn’t we darling?”  
Ashura looked up at her and chuckled manically. 

Away in Death City, the academy students and faculty were sleeping soundly in their homes. Preparations for the next day had been made, and the search parties assigned to seek out the Keishan and Arachnaphobia. Crona, who was to be with Marie and Stein’s team, was having trouble sleeping once again, and laid awake on the couch in their living room trying to clear away the voices in his head. It was then that a very familiar and very unwelcome voice entered his thoughts.  
“Crona? Oh, Crona darling? This is your mother. If you can hear me, I want you to listen very carefully.” Her voice was sickeningly sweet, but Crona knew better than to trust that deceptive tone.   
“We need you to help us with our plans. You could be of great help to us, Crona. I’m sorry for the way I treated you before, you know how short my temper is. I was simply angry with having to take on my weakened form after that Stein and Soul Eater nearly did me in, you understand. I see now how much I need you. We all do. You know how important this plan is to our people. Lord Death has caused much suffering for us. Wouldn’t you like to see our people in charge for once? We can shape our own destiny, Crona, without the fear of their clan. All you need to do is follow my instructions, and we can swiftly dethrone Death!”  
Crona sat upright, but remained silent.   
“I… I can’t.” He thought. “They’re my friends. I can’t hurt them.”  
“You can, and you must.” Medusa’s words felt like the strikes of a snake now, but quickly softened. “I would not have you hurt anyone, I simply need you to mislead them, so that they cannot attack us. Our plans are so close to fruition, they must not be interrupted by Death’s forces. Can you do this for me?”  
“But… Maka, she…”  
“She is not one of us. She may act like your friend, but suppose that she’s been using you just for information?”  
“She wouldn’t do that… She’s a good person.”  
“Even good people have a duty to their clan, Crona. She’s probably been trying to figure out a way to read your thoughts without you knowing.”  
“No.” Crona felt tears of doubt beginning to spill down his cheeks. “She’s my friend.”  
“I’m your mother, Crona. I’m family. Would you turn your back on that?”  
Crona shook with emotion. He wanted to tell someone what was happening, but she was right. She was his mother. The thought of betraying her had been pressing on him like a weight. There was no doubting that she was a bad person, but she did still remain his blood. He didn’t know what he should do.  
“What do you want me to say to them?”  
Medusa contained the wicked pleasure that caused a smile to spread across her face, so that Crona would not sense it.

“The dessert?” Lord Death asked.  
Crona felt intimidated by the king of vampires’ presence. He felt like everyone in the room could tell what he was thinking, but Maka was the only one who could hear him, and that was only if he let her. He nodded.  
“I could hear them last night. I know who I share a link with now. Besides Maka, I can hear the thoughts of Giriko, Medusa, and a werewolf named Free. They all were complaining about somewhere hot, and how they kept getting sand all over the place. I think that the dessert would be a good place to look for them… but I don’t know which direction they would be in or which dessert.”   
All heads turned to look at Lord Death questioningly. Lord Death hummed to himself a single, questioning drawl of a sound.   
“Welp! I guess we all should split-up and search for their hideaway then. Sid and Nigis, I want you both to double-check at their original bunker, the rest of us will head out to separate locations. Whoever finds them first can relay the information back to the others via radio.” He snapped his fingers and pointed them at the door. “Let’s get cracking!”  
The assembly dispersed. Kid was taking up the rear with Liz and Patty when Lord Death called out to them.  
“Just a moment, Kid. I’d like to send you on a separate errand.”   
The others had already exited the office.   
“What could possibly be more important than tracking down the Keishan right now?” Kid furrowed his brow at his father, while the twins flanked him.   
“While you’re busy searching for Ashura, there is something else in the dessert I would like you to locate for me…”

Everyone was dispersed across the world to different deserts around the globe, and then split into teams to search in each direction. In the desert surrounding Death City itself, Sid and Nigis searched the hideout to the south, up North were Kid and the twins, Maka and Soul were with Tsubaki and Black Star in the west, and Crona was with Stein and Marie to the east. All of the weapons and Meisters knew exactly what they had to do in case they came across the lair of witches. No one was fighting today if they could avoid it. They were simply doing reconnaissance.   
Crona frowned the entire walk into the dessert, trailing behind Marie while Stein took the lead. After walking in silence for a long time, Marie broke it with a chipper sigh.   
“Oh my, it sure is hot out here. I’m sure glad I have you two to keep me oriented, or I’d be wandering out here until I collapsed of dehydration.”  
Stein threw a glance back her way and twisted the massive screw in his head that he had put there himself through numerous experiments to his own body. There was a smirk on his face.  
“Yes. That would be very unfortunate indeed.”  
Marie scowled ferociously at him before whacking him with one of her lethal fists.   
“Ugh! I hate it when you twist that thing! And what was with that sarcastic comment! You are such a sadist!”  
Stein wheezed as he regained his feet after being knocked to the ground by her blow. “I’m sorry dear, you know I have a cynical nature.”  
“Hmph!” Marie folded her arms and turned her head up. “You should be.”  
Crona hadn’t smiled even a little at their marital banter, and Marie lost all sign of anger and got a concerned look on her face.  
“Hey, Crona, that was very helpful of you to give us that information. Now we’re one step closer to finding the witches and eradicating their forces.”  
Crona lifted his eyes to hers. “Eradicate?”  
Marie’s expression turned serious. “Yes. The witches have been the enemies of vampires for as long as anyone can remember. The blood-feud between our kind and theirs has lasted for centuries. Part of the reason for the academy is because of them.”  
Stein jumped in at this point by standing alongside Marie and adjusting his glasses. “When Ashura became a Keishan, he had a cult of followers. They all practiced dark magic and did experimenting with blood. Among his followers was a witch named, Arachne. They became inseparable. Not many know this, but Ashura actually gave some of his own blood to Arachne to keep safe when he knew that he was being pursued. The witch drank his blood and became something entirely new. Using her newfound longevity and power, she passed it on to create unimaginable monsters. The cult that Ashura started grew and became known as Arachnophobia.”  
Crona shuddered and cast his eyes down again, feeling knots tie in his stomach. His voice was very quiet. “Why would you tell me all of this… I came from them after all. Aren’t you worried that I’ll betray you?”  
Marie and Stein shared a surprised look before Marie put a hand on Crona’s shoulder and smiled at him when he looked back up at her.   
“Of course not, Crona. You’ve proven that you’re trustworthy. I know that you probably are feeling a lot of things right now, but I just want you to know that we care about you. All of us do.”   
Crona could feel tears starting to run down his face, despite his best efforts to hold them at bay. Marie released Crona’s shoulder and tilted her head to the side.   
“Crona, what is it? What’s wrong?”  
“I… I…” He couldn’t make the words come out.   
No. This was all wrong. He had betrayed them now, too. He was a terrible person who didn’t deserve either world in which he had become entangled. The only way out now was to remove himself or else he’d just keep hurting everyone around him.   
“I feel sick. I think I need to go back to the house...”  
“We’ve only just started our search, are you sure you can’t tough it out?” Stein asked.  
Crona shook his head. “No. I’ll see you both later… I’m sorry I can’t help.”   
Before either Marie or Stein could stop him, Crona was hurrying away towards Death City. As soon as he was out of sight from them, he turned and started wandering out into the desert. He didn’t know where he was going, and he didn’t care.

Maka held Soul in her hands as they walked. She envied the weapons for their abilities to hibernate in their non-human forms. Black Star walked alongside her with Tsubaki in his hands in her chain scythe mode. Maka couldn’t help but wonder at how gifted her bloodline was to have inherited the ability to shift into not just one weapon form, but multiple. There were many oddities when it came to blood she realized. That must have been why it was crucial for their existence.  
While she was lost in thought, Maka suddenly felt the urge to cry as a pang shot through her chest. Gripping at her shirt she fell to her knees. Soul was the first to react, shifting back to human and steadying her.  
“What’s wrong, Maka?”  
Black Star stopped and turned as Tsubaki shifted back as well.   
Maka continued to hold her chest and pant. “I’m not sure, but it feels like something’s pressing down on my heart.”  
“Is it the poison?” Black Star tried. “I thought that Professor Stein got it all out.”  
Maka shook her head. “He did. I think that it might be Crona. He’s in trouble. I’m going to try reaching back to him, you three go on ahead.”  
“I’ll stay with you.” Soul stated, turning to the others. “Black Star, you and Tsubaki keep scouting, we’ll catch up.”   
They shared a glance before Tsubaki shifted into her dagger form and Black Star snatched her out of the air.   
“Alright, but if you need us then shout.”   
Soul nodded with an appreciative smile at his friend, and Black Star walked off.  
“So, what’s wrong with Crona? Is he freaking out ‘cause he can’t deal with Stein’s weirdness?”  
“No, this is something worse than that.” Maka sat on her butt and crossed her legs. “This might be tricky since we’re so far away from one another, but I’m going to talk to him and see if there’s anything I can do to help.”  
She placed her hands over her knees and began to meditate before Soul interupeted her with a huff.  
“What, are you guys getting bad reception out here or something?”  
Maka grumbled, but remained focused. After a few seconds, she was able to reach Crona’s thoughts.  
“Crona? Is everything alright? I could feel you just now. Are Stein and Marie with you?”  
Crona was silent.  
“Hey, Crona, talk to me. What’s going on?”   
“You should just leave me alone, Maka…”  
“Huh? Why? You sound like something bad happened. Where are Stein and Marie?”   
“They’re fine. I’m not with them.”  
Maka frowned. “Crona, where are you?”   
“I’m nowhere and I should just stay here because all I do is cause trouble for everybody.” She could feel the anguish in his words now and felt the ache in her chest intensify. “I’m not a good person and I don’t deserve your kindness, Maka. Not yours, or Marie’s… not anybody’s. I tricked you all into coming out here, because Medusa told me to.”  
Maka was surprised to hear that, but she didn’t care about the implications right at that moment. It wasn’t as if he had led them into a trap, he’d only misdirected them, and right now the only thing she was worried about was her friend.  
“Crona, I’m coming to you, okay, so don’t you dare move.”   
Crona said nothing.  
Getting to her feet again, Maka started heading off back towards the city, and Soul followed after her.  
“Where the hell are you going? We’re supposed to be looking for the witches’ lair. Did Crona and the others find it?”  
“No. Crona needs my help though. He’s all alone out in the dessert somewhere.”  
“What?! What is that idiot thinking? He’s gonna get himself killed wandering off alone out here.”  
Maka said nothing, but just continued to head to the east where she knew Crona had gone that morning with Marie and Stein. She could feel the connection between them growing stronger with every step she took in his direction.   
“Maka, wait!”  
She stopped, but stayed poised to move again. “What, Soul?”  
He made it so that they were face to face and stared her down with determined eyes. “Maybe he really wants to be alone. Did you ever think of that? I mean, he does kind of have that vibe about him like he doesn’t want anybody to get close. Maybe we should just let him figure out what he wants to do.”  
Maka considered his words for a moment but sighed and shook her head.  
“No one really wants to be alone. They just want to be accepted. I feel like Crona and I are a lot alike. He was born to people who don’t care who he is, just what he can or can’t do.” She clenched her fists and returned the look he was giving her. “Being lonely is the worst feeling in the world. If I didn’t have you, then I don’t know if I could be as strong as I am. Even though you aren’t the only person who cares about me, I still feel better when I’m with you out of everyone else. Crona doesn’t have that with anyone, he never has. His own mother, his people, they all have been using him, and they don’t even care how it makes him feel. I want to be his friend, not because I pity him, but because everyone deserves to feel loved and like they belong somewhere.”  
Soul nodded, before turning and continuing to look at her over his shoulder. “Alright, that’s good enough for me… Let’s go find our friend.” 

Crona was sitting with his head in his knees inside of a sandpit. He felt safe down in his little hole where it was cozy and not so open like the vastness of the desert. It wasn’t exactly nice, but it was better than how he had felt. Now he didn’t have to worry about anyone else bothering him, or dealing with anything. He could just think to himself. The voices were still there in his mind, but they were very faint right now. Except for Maka’s. If his mind had been a door, then she would have been standing right outside of it. She wasn’t knocking anymore, she was just sitting on the other side, waiting for him to come out, but he didn’t feel like it right now.   
“I’m not going to come out. If I come out, then everyone will be mad at me for lying. Medusa will be mad when she finds out I’m still helping my friends. Miss Marie won’t ever talk to me again, probably.” Crona wasn’t crying anymore, but every thought felt like a stone in his heart. “Maka has other friends, she doesn’t need me… and everyone else probably won’t even care that I’m gone… Why am I even here?”  
“Because,” A voice said. Crona knew that it wasn’t one of the other voices that wouldn’t get out of his head because of his stupid blood-link. No, this was his voice. A lot of the time it was hidden away and didn’t say much, but when it did it was always louder than the others. “You don’t really want to go, do you?”  
“I do. I’m not really important to Medusa, I never was. I’m a failure. I thought that if I could be useful to her again then maybe I wouldn’t feel so guilty about disappointing her, but now I just feel worse because I hurt my friends and they probably won’t want anything to do with me now. Marie even said it herself, the vampires and my people have been enemies for generations. They probably wouldn’t ever accept me in their clan, not really, and especially not after this.”  
“They’re your friends, aren’t they? Maybe you aren’t the same as them, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get along. You already do. You know the difference between good and bad, Crona, what you did was bad, but you aren’t. You don’t want to hurt anyone.”   
“Crona!” Maka’s voice was faint, but he could still hear it. It wasn’t inside his head this time. “Crona! Come on out! You don’t have to be alone!”  
He sighed.  
“Just go away, Maka!”   
There was the sound of sand crunching underfoot and approaching footfalls. Crona could feel Maka’s soul-wavelength growing stronger as she neared. Looking up out of his sandpit, Crona saw her and Soul looking down at him.  
“There you are.” Maka put her hand out. “Why don’t you come on out of there.”  
Crona shook his head. “No, I’m not going to hurt anyone else. You can’t trust me. I keep doing bad things for bad people, so that probably means that I’m bad too.”  
“You aren’t bad, Crona. You don’t have to do what Medusa or anyone else tells you. Just be yourself.”  
“That’s the problem!” Crona shouted. He didn’t mean to, but he did. “I am myself, Maka. It’s not that I can’t be, it’s that I’m a coward. I’m not brave like you. I can’t just tell Medusa no, she’s my mother. She may be a horrible parent and a bad person, but she’s still mine. I don’t want to help her, but if I don’t then I feel like a terrible son. All of you are so nice to me, even though I’ve helped them hurt you. It’s all so screwed-up, and I don’t know how to deal with it.”   
Maka was quiet for a moment, before she let herself slide into the pit across from Crona. She grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him to his feet before throwing her arms around him.   
“Everyone deserves love, Crona. As long as you care for others, then why the hell shouldn’t others care about you? Maybe we aren’t the people you came from, but we can be your friends Crona. We can be your people. So, please, stop hurting yourself like this and just let us in. I promise that we won’t hurt you, too, and if we ever do, then you have every right to run away, but until then, will you let us be your friends?”  
Crona sniffled, but put his arms around Maka and hugged her back with a nod. “Okay.”   
Soul whistled down to them and they both turned. Stooping down, he offered out his hand. “You guys need help out of there, or what?”  
They both smiled and Crona wiped off his face before he and Maka were hoisted out of the pit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the Maka and Crona desert scenes from Soul Eater, especially because the first time I watched the series I was feeling really depressed and when I watched both of those scenes, it made me feel so happy to know that someone had created a beautiful metaphor for exactly how I was feeling and it made me feel like I wasn't so alone. I still watch them when I get in a low place and feel like I'm all alone, so writing this part is something I really enjoyed and I hope that you guys like it too. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
“Hey Kid, who is it we’re looking for again?” Patty asked.   
“Ugh, Patty, you really need to learn how to pay attention.” Liz sighed.  
The twins were both in their pistol forms, while Kid was using his specialized skateboard to zip through the northern part of the desert. Kid remained unphased by his ditsy weapon partner and relayed the information his father had given them.  
“We’re looking for Ashura, of course, but we also have been assigned to locate a very ancient vampire known as Eibon. He was a member of my father’s court back in the old days when vampires were just coming into existence. According to dad, he’s responsible for the abilities that weapons possess.”  
“Who! So, he’s kind of like our great-great-grandpa, huh sis?”   
“I guess… Why does Lord Death need this Eibon guy?”  
“Dad didn’t go too much into specifics with me, but my guess is that it has something to do with Crona’s blood. It’s entirely unique, and holds both weapon and Meister properties. The only other person alive with blood even close to his would probably be Maka, but even she can’t shift into a weapon form. If Eibon was the creator of weapons, then he probably has vital knowledge of how to defeat Arachnophobia, quite literally from the inside.”  
A sudden rumbling noise emitted from beneath them. Looking down from his aerial vantage point, Kid saw a massive plume of smoke as a train drove through the sand below at a rapid speed.  
“That must be the ‘Runaway Express’. Eibon is said to have manufactured it himself. It used to carry passengers through the desert to Death City, but now it just runs around the perimeter of the desert. If you can manage to get on, then it would be helpful for travel until you realized you were going in circles. Father said that Eibon’s lair is right on the boarder of the northern most part of the desert, so we must be getting close.”  
“Kid, look!” Liz said.   
Past the cloud of sand was a massive pyramid that stood proudly amongst the tree line fringing the desert limits. Kid brought his skateboard low and kicked it up as he landed just outside the pyramid’s entrance. He stood there marveling at the pyramid for so long that the twins phased out of their weapon forms.   
“Uh, hey Kid, are you alright?” Liz asked, while Patty waved her hand in front of his face.  
“Glorious… Simply glorious…” Kid muttered as he marveled at the perfectly symmetrical structure.   
“Yeah, real pretty… We should probably go inside if we want to find this Eibon guy, though.”  
“Please, just a little longer…”  
“Wooh! Pyramid! Maybe there’s ancient treasure inside!” Patty called as she ran full-on into the building.   
“Come on, Kid…” Liz said as she forcibly dragged him in. “Hey, Patty! Where’d you go?”  
A loud shriek sounded from the depths of the dark halls, and Liz released Kid as they both ran at a full sprint towards Patty’s screams. When they found her, a clown with a jester hat was about to slam her into the ground with a blow from it’s elongated blade of an arm. Liz wasted no time transforming and Kid swiftly shot it with a blast of his soul-wavelength before a second one caught him by surprise from behind. Kid tossed Liz to Patty, who was facing the clown behind him, and she shot it down. Both clowns swiftly recovered and were about to attack in a synchronized flurry, before a voice called out from the darkness.  
“That is enough!”   
The clowns halted and turned to face the speaker as he came forward. A man in a long robe with a strange helmet covering his head stepped around one of the clowns and they both bowed before withdrawing into the darkness.   
“You must be the son of Lord Death. I’d recognize that soul-wavelength anywhere. It’s the same as your father’s.”  
Liz phased back to her human form, before the three of them stood before the man.   
“I take it that you are Eibon?” Kid asked.   
The man bowed. “Indeed, I am. Why have you entered my home without invitation?”  
“Forgive us. My father sent me to retrieve you. He says that you must come to the city at once. The Keishan has escaped, and he needs your help.”  
Eibon was silent for a moment. “I see… Ashura has revived. I trust you know the stories of the Keishan?”  
“There are many, yes.”   
“You know that he consumed the soul of his weapon partner as well as countless others?”  
“I do. My father believes that with your knowledge, you could help us destroy him. He didn’t give me the complete details of why you must come, but apparently he’s desperate, and I’ve never known my father to be a desperate man.”  
Eibon nodded. “Very well, if Lord Death has need of me, then I shall assist my old friend.”

“Hey, good to see ya! How long has it been, Eibon? Centuries? You haven’t changed a bit.”   
“Lord Death, you seem less… bloodthirsty.”  
“Well, running a school makes it necessary to be more appealing to children. I assure you though that this entire situation is most serious, indeed.”   
“Your son mentioned that Ashura has escaped?”  
Death turned to his son who was standing with Liz and Patty in his office alongside Spirit, and then back to Eibon.  
“Yes. The Keishan is at large and we haven’t the slightest notion of where he is. We were tracking him… but it turns out that our lead was a dead end. I was hoping that perhaps you could assist here in case Arachnophobia’s forces decided to attack once again. There is also a young man with us who has a most interesting chemistry to his blood, and apparently that blood has been used to revive the Keishan himself. If we could better understand it’s make-up, then we might be able to have a way of defeating Ashura.”  
“You wish me to experiment on the child?”   
Kid and the twins tensed. Although Crona had fed them false information, they understood that he had done it because Medusa had made him. He was still their friend, and the thought of him being made to undergo further suffering made them all sick.   
“No, only the blood. We have samples of it that were extracted from the Meister, Maka Albarn. She herself has interesting DNA, even for a Dunpeal. Though she doesn’t remember them doing so, I believe that the witches extracted some of her blood before she fed upon Crona’s. The combination of the two within the Keishan leaves me very nervous.”  
“I will do what I can. As for the defenses of Death City, I trust you have already summoned the help of Joe Buttataki?”   
“Yes, he should be arriving shortly.”   
“Then I shall get to work. I do, however, have one request…”  
Eibon turned from Lord Death and came to stand before Kid. “I will be needing my weapon, would you retrieve it for me, boy?”  
Kid nodded. “I can do that.”  
If only Kid had known just what exactly Eibon was asking of him.

“Are you sure you won’t need us to help find Eibon’s weapon?” Liz asked as she, Kid, and Patty all walked down the hallway from Lord Death’s office.  
“Eibon said that his weapon resides in a cave full of fairies at the top of a waterfall. It shouldn’t require the two of you. Besides, don’t you both have to study for the written exam coming up?”  
Liz winced. “Well… I was planning on doing that later tonight. With everything that’s been going on, I thought we could use a break from school, but apparently the teachers didn’t…”  
Kid’s eyebrow twitched. “You’re telling me that you haven’t been doing any of your school work what-so-ever?”   
Patty smiled cluelessly. “Nope!”  
“As your Meister, I forbid either of you from leaving the manor tonight without studying for that test. If you’re both going to be the weapons of a Shinigami, then you ought to be able to have the education that goes along with it. I’ll find someone else to go with me while you two hit the books.”  
Liz withered while Patty waved after Kid as he walked away.

“Of all the people I could have been stuck with, it had to be you?” Kid complained as he and Black Star approached the waterfall Eibon had described. “Shouldn’t you be studying as well?”  
Black Star grinned proudly from ear to ear. “Tsubaki wanted me to stay home and study with her, but I told her that I had to pick up some extra remedial lessons instead. I figured this counts as one. Beats bookwork any day. I don’t get why we have to take that stupid test in the first place.”  
They both stared up at the cave atop of the small cliff.  
“It’s an important part of our overall grade. We may be caught up in an imminent war, but that doesn’t mean we should let our studies slip. Knowledge is the key to a good strategy after all.”  
Black Star laughed once and began climbing the cliff. “Who needs a strategy when you’re as strong as me?”   
Kid whipped out his skateboard and soared up to the cave ahead of Black Star, who glared up after him.  
“Damn nobles get all of the good gear.”   
As soon as he reached the cave, however, he found Kid hanging from a stalactite.   
“What are you doing?”   
“It’s wet, I can’t come down.”  
“You’re afraid of water?”  
“Of course not! But, I don’t want to get wet. You have to carry me.”  
“Forget it! I’ll just go in and grab the damn sword myself!”   
“But…” Kid whimpered.   
Black Star was already entering the cave while Kid hung there helplessly. Before he had made it all the way in, though, he sighed and turned back around.   
“Fine you big baby, but this is the only time! It’ll give me extra exercise.”   
“Thank you.” Kid sniveled.  
Kid rode piggyback on Black Star through the cave until they came to a small island in the middle of the pooling water where a sword had been stuck into the ground.   
“That must be it.” Kid said.  
Black Star carried him onto the isle and deposited him on the ground. “This is Eibon’s weapon? How come he’s in his sword form and not human?”  
“Perhaps he’s meditating.” Kid guessed. “Excuse me, Mr. Excalibur, your Meister Eibon sent me to get you.”  
The sword did not respond in any way.   
“Yo, wake-up.” Black Star said, pulling the sword out of the ground. “What gives? Is he deaf?”   
“Maybe, it’s an ancient weapon that only responds to Eibon.”   
Kid withdrew a handkerchief before extending his hand for the sword. Black Star rolled his eyes but put the weapon into Kid’s hand for him to examine.  
“It has flawless symmetry. A truly magnificent blade.”   
“If he’s so magnificent, then why doesn’t he work?”  
“Fools!” A sudden voice made them both jump, and Kid dropped the sword.  
The blade transformed into a funny looking little creature wearing a frilly outfit and a top-hat with a cane. Both of the boys couldn’t help but snicker under their breath.  
“Hmph! Do either of you know to whom you chortle?” The creature asked, pointing its cane at them. “My legend dates back to the twelfth century. I doubt either of you were even alive back then.”  
Kid was the first to recover. “Beg your pardon, my name is-”  
“Fool!” The creature interrupted. “I know perfectly well who you are, young man. You are none other than a vampire. These eyes may not be what they were in my youth, but they’d recognize those irises and unmistakable fangs from a mile away.”  
Kid cleared his throat. “Yes, well, as I was saying before, your Meister sent us to-”  
“Fool! My Meister is dead and gone. King Arthur was but a mere mortal and could not withstand the tole of time.” A tear seemed to trickle down from the creature’s rather animated eye.  
“I’m sorry for your loss.”   
“Fool! I have lost nothing, but gained everything. For knowledge is everything as they say, and I have acquired a great amount over my long years in this world. Shall I regale you with all I have learned? Though I should warn you, it would take the entirety of a five-hour-long storytelling party.”   
“This guy’s lost it.” Black Star muttered to Kid.  
“Being in this cave for so long is probably what did it.” Kid whispered back.  
“Fools! I have been in this cave because it is where my Meister Eibon sent me to wait for him until summoned.”  
“That’s why we’re here.”   
“Fools! Of course, it is. I heard you before. Why are we still wasting time? If my Meister has summoned me, then we must be off.” Excalibur transformed back into a sword and Kid caught him, though he wished to jam him back into the ground and leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
The day of the exam had come, and the weight that had been resting on everyone’s shoulders over the Keishan was now replaced with an anxious tension over their final grades. Those who had studied were just as terrified as the ones who hadn’t. The only person who was completely unphased was Sid, because he was the one dishing out the torture.  
“Hey, Professor Sid?” One of the students called out. “Where’s Professor Stein? I thought he was supposed to be our mediator for the exam.”   
“Professor Stein is on sick leave; said his head wasn’t feeling well. I’ll be the one timing you and checking for cheaters. Which reminds me… Soul! Black Star! Kindly join me at the front of the class.”  
The two boys rose and came to stand before Sid. The zombie crossed his arms in suspicion before addressing them again.   
“Neither of you would happen to have any cheat sheets of any kind, would you?”  
Both boys did a miserable job of hiding their sheepishness.   
“Hand ‘em over now, and I’ll pretend this didn’t happen.”  
Black Star withdrew a full copy of the test with the answers that he had somehow kifed from Stein’s lab, while Soul began pulling scrap after scrap of paper from his clothes, each one having been written on in very small handwriting.  
“Is this all of it?” Sid accused.  
Soul undid his jacket and shook it out. A few more scraps falling to the ground.  
Sid shook his head and grumbled under his breath. “I ought to have you both expelled. Take your seats and count yourselves lucky that Stein is out today. He’d pin you both to the wall for this crap.”  
Tsubaki and Maka shared a mutual sigh as their imbecilic partners took their seats. 

“Franken? Is everything alright, dear?” Marie asked.  
Stein was sitting on the couch in their house, having removed his glasses and placing his hands on his head. He shook it minutely and spoke through gritted teeth.  
“It’s nothing… Just a headache. I’ll try lying down and see if it goes away, but you should probably get to class.”   
Marie continued to look at him worriedly. “Alright, if you need me for anything, just call. I’ll be back this afternoon. Bye, honey.”  
She closed the door behind her and Stein removed his hands with a grimace still on his face and the voices still in his head. After a small pause, he whispered after her, though she was already gone.   
“Goodbye, Marie.”

“God, that was the longest pain in the ass ever! I’m glad it’s finally over. I bet I would have gotten a higher score if Sid hadn’t made me hand over that sheet.”  
“Then you would have gotten one-hundred percent, which for you would look completely suspicious and you’d still fail once they found out the truth.” Kid surmised.  
“Oh yeah? How do you think you did, your highness?”  
Kid stiffened and was barely audible. “I-I couldn’t do it… the k… it never comes out right… I’ll have to retake the entire thing…”  
They all had heard the painful tear of his paper as he’d tried to erase his ‘imperfect’ k. When everyone had turned to see him passed-out on the floor, they knew he wasn’t coming out of it until he was ready.   
“Liz, Patty, what about you?” Maka asked.  
“Well…” Liz hedged.   
Patty held up an origami Giraffe that she had mangled the neck of and presented it with pride.  
“He let you take it with you…”   
“No need to ask how the ‘bookworm’ fared.” Black Star harrumphed with a smirk.   
Maka blushed and was about to retort when Soul surprised her with an arm around her shoulder that only made her blush harder.  
“Everyone knows that the only thing besides me that could keep Maka up all night is studying, of course she aced it.”  
“S-SOUL!” Maka screeched, her face now completely scarlet.   
The others chuckled and whooped, or else got a horrified expression, before Tsubaki spoke up.  
“Now that the exam’s over with and we have some free time, we should all hang out. It’s been a while since we could just relax, you know?”   
The others nodded their agreement.

“Dribble! Come on, dribble! Geez Maka! You’d think you’d never played basketball before.” Black Star called.  
Maka was doing her best, but she was not very sports-oriented and kept forgetting the rules.   
“Yo, Liz? You gonna come join or what?” Soul called.  
Liz sat on a bench nearby the court filing away at her nails. “Yeah, that’s a no can do. I just got these bad boys done.”  
“Come on, sis, they’ll grow back.” Patty tried, while blocking Soul’s shot.  
“Why can’t I sit out with Liz?” Maka whimpered.  
“Without you we have uneven teams, now quit whining.” Soul growled, before shooting the ball and scoring a hoop.   
“But Crona’s playing too, so it’s four against three!”   
“I can sit out if it’s too many players…” Crona attempted to help, but Soul shot him a look that told him he was playing whether he liked it or not, too.   
They all were enjoying themselves so much, that they didn’t see Spirit and Marie approaching with somber expressions. Marie’s eyes were red and puffy as if she had just been crying. Liz noticed them first as they approached her bench.   
“Hey, what’s going on?”  
Spirit frowned. “We need to speak with Crona. The rest of you might as well hear the news too.”  
Everyone stopped where they were and turned to look at Spirit. The light drained out of them in an instant at his words.  
“Professor Stein has been abducted by Medusa.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So very sorry for the long update, but here it is!

Chapter 13  
“Dear Marie, by the time you read this, I will be hundreds of miles away from Death City. I thought that I could control the voices if I tried hard enough, but I realize that there is only one option, I have to find Medusa and put an end to her myself, once and for all. It’s the only way. Stein.” Marie finished reading the letter to the group of kids now assembled in her and Stein’s lab, and looked at them all with sorrowful eyes.  
“It seems as if he went by his own free will.” Kid said, not unkindly.   
Marie shook her head, sadly. “No. We knew that this might happen. Crona and Stein have been working to eradicate the link internally. It isn’t as strong as the one between him and Maka, but it is noticeable.”   
Crona nodded. “It’s more like static. We’ve been working from both ends to block off our connection, but after Medusa reached out to me and had me help her, Stein said he started getting headaches and they’ve only been getting worse. It’s like she turned up the frequency on him, or maybe she’s having everyone attack his mind at once. Either way, she probably forced him into coming to her.”  
“I don’t mean to deny you, or say anything hurtful, but if she’s using the same method that she did with you, then I don’t think Stein would bend to her words.” Spirit said.  
“Which is why she must have brainwashed him. I made him promise me, that no matter how bad it got, he wouldn’t do something like this!” Marie said with conviction.  
No one made a further argument as to why Stein went, but he had, and now they had to find him.   
“Did he mention anything about where they might be?” Maka asked.   
Marie shook her head, and looked away. “No. He’d been getting more withdrawn lately. As if he couldn’t hear me anymore…”   
Crona looked guiltily at her. “I feel like I should be able to help, but since Medusa’s become aware of our telepathic connection, she’s been putting up a wall and so have her followers. I can’t hear them the same way I once did. Also, somehow Medusa has found a way to use me as a connection to Stein and Maka. I’m guessing that Professor Stein found her by following the static to where it became stronger.”  
“Does it work that way for you, too?” Spirit asked, glancing between both him and Maka.   
They both nodded and Maka spoke. “Yeah, I can sense Crona and the connection between us gets stronger the less space there is between us. It works both ways.”  
“Which means, I could help find Stein.” Crona said with more conviction than he had ever put into his words.   
Marie snapped her head to look at him. “That’s too dangerous.”  
“It’s the only hope we have of finding him.” Spirit stated, and Marie withered, so he placed a hand on her shoulder and added more gently. “I wish there were another way, but Crona’s the only one who can reach him. We’ll send out a group so that he has back up.”  
“I’m going with.” Marie said with finality.   
Maka and Soul shared a look before nodding. “Soul and I are coming too. I may not know how to link to anyone through Crona, but we can help fight that evil witch.”   
“Now just hold on a second! The Keishan is still out there, and Arachnophobia. If we start sending everybody in blindly, then we could be playing into a trap.” Spirit said. “I don’t like the idea of you going, but you are right, Maka. The rest of you kids should stay here, though. If we do discover where Ashura is hiding, then we’ll need fighters.”   
They all nodded in agreement.

It wasn’t long after Marie, Crona, Soul, and Maka had set out to look for Professor Stein, that Sid made contact with Lord Death. They had found the location of the Keishan.   
“Arachne and Ashura’s forces are inside of Baba Yaga castle. It’s no wonder they’ve been so difficult to track.” Sid relayed via radio.  
“Why’s that?” Patty asked.  
“Baba Yaga castle is at the bottom of a cave in the middle of a jungle.” Kid explained.   
“Wow, that’s definitely a good place to hide.” Liz said under her breath.   
Sid continued despite the interruption. “We’ll need every available resource, including anyone old enough to fight.”  
“Agreed.” Lord Death nodded. “I’ll also have Eibon make preparations as well.”  
Everyone spread out to begin the final battle.

The group headed for Stein received the news of the Kishan and were now discussing what they should do.  
“We still have to find him.” Marie asserted.   
“It’s possible that the professor is at Baba Yaga castle.” Soul said.  
“No. I’ve been catching glimpses of his surroundings now.” Crona explained. “He’s not in a jungle, it’s more like a swamp…”  
Soul’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance. “Is there really that much of a difference?”  
Maka placed her hand on his shoulder. “Our goal was to find Professor Stein first. The others can manage until we get there. Lead the way, Crona.”  
They followed him until they came to a very pungent and foggy swamp. In the heart of it was a massive castle covered in moss and fronds. Entering cautiously, the party of weapons and Meisters came upon a room comprised of concreate blocks that were riddled with odd designs. At its center sat the minute Medusa and a very hypnotized looking Stein.  
“Welcome.” Medusa crooned. “I’m surprised to see you all here, I would have thought that the Keishan was more important than a single teacher, although I suppose I can’t blame you, Marie, he is quite handsome after all.”  
Medusa had plopped herself into Steins lap with a smug grin, and Marie scowled.  
“What have you done to him?” She accused.   
Medusa feigned innocence. “Me? I haven’t done anything. He decided to come here of his own free will. Perhaps he missed his old friends…”  
Marie fumed. “Don’t.”   
“Oh? Hasn’t she told you children? Your beloved Professor Stein used to be on our side when he was about your age.”   
The three students remained unphased, save for the slight tension in their jaws. Medusa smirked anew and continued.  
“You don’t seem to believe me. Well, it’s true. He actually was a brilliant scientist, but his potential was going to waste because of your Lord Death’s rules. With us, he was able to experiment all he wanted, and many of his discoveries were quite intriguing.”  
“That’s enough out of you!” Marie shook. “He isn’t that person anymore.”  
“Oh, really? Well then, why don’t you ask him that?”   
Medusa removed herself from the professor’s lap, and he stood as if in a trance.   
“Franken, it’s me. Your wife, Marie. Come home.”  
Stein’s head lifted to look at her properly, but his eyes looked past her as if she wasn’t there. “Marie? But, you’re supposed to be dead.”  
She looked stricken. “Why would you say that? I’m fine. We’ve come to take you away from here.”  
“Take me away… That’s what they said back then, too. Spirit, and Lord Death… You… All of you tried to change me. Turn me into an obedient little sheep.”  
Marie was becoming teary-eyed with frustration. “No. You were scared and you wanted our help, remember? They were using you! That’s what they do. It’s what she does.” Marie pointed at Medusa. “If you stay with her, then the voices will never go away!”  
“You seem to be the voice that won’t shut-up now.” Medusa said, before a rumbling above them made the students and teacher all lurch out of the way.   
One of the concreate blocks had fallen where they’d just been standing, and now separated them, with Marie and Crona on one side of it and Soul and Maka on the other. Maka extended her hand, before Soul transformed into a scythe and she held him in her grasp.  
“You evil witch!” Maka shouted.   
Medusa glared at her. “You’ve been a great help to us as well, little girl. You should feel honored. Your blood has perfected my recipe for the black blood that now resides within the Keishan. Dunpeals are so rare, but thankfully I had you.”   
“Shut-up!” Maka was about to unleash her unbridled fury at Medusa, but was stopped by Stein.   
“Professor Stein, you have to move. She needs to be destroyed!”  
He twisted the screw in his head; eyes steely. “Noise. So much noise…”   
Maka leaped out of the way before Stein could reach her. As he lunged, she jumped and landed on the same block as Medusa, who remained unphased. Maka was about to cut Medusa down, when she spoke.  
“Vector plate.”   
The scythe Meister went flying back and hit a concreate wall, hard. Soul cried out to her, even though she landed on her feet.   
Marie was next to go after Medusa. Bringing down her transformed fist, that now resembled a massive hammer. She was also sent flying into the wall. Stein put himself between the three women, leaving Crona to face his mother.   
“Well? Will you kill me then, Crona? Go ahead. That is, if you can.” A flurry of writhing arrows sprang out from her and went careening towards him.  
At the last moment, Crona transformed into Ragnarok and deflected the attack.   
“Using the gifts I gave you? Well, isn’t that ironic.”   
Crona shifted back and turned a woeful expression on his mother. “I don’t want to do this, but I have no choice… You’re evil.”  
Medusa said nothing, but sent another wave of arrows after him. Before they connected, Maka was standing before Crona, and used Soul to deflect them. Marie was busy battling Stein; dodging his attacks as she tried to reason with him.  
“Franken, you know this isn’t you. She’s done something to you to make you think that you need to attack us, but you don’t. You have to fight it!”  
The words went over Stein’s head as he continued to come after her. His mind was in a fog that nothing would penetrate.   
“Noisy, noisy voices! I have to silence you!”   
Medusa chuckled as she went after both Crona and Maka. “It’s no use. He’s mine now!”  
Marie suddenly let go of her weapon form, and stood defenseless before her husband. He was about to strike, but she side stepped at the last moment and caught hold of him in a tight embrace. Maka couldn’t be sure, but it looked as if she was whispering something to him, and he suddenly relaxed before pulling back to look at her with a hand on her cheek.  
“Marie?”   
Medusa’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Impossible!”  
Maka took the opportunity to strike and in a single motion sliced Medusa in two. She seemed to suspend in midair for a brief moment, before thudding to the ground.   
“Careful.” Soul said. “She didn’t die the first time we killed her.”  
But as they watched, Medusa’s severed body began to disintegrate into dust. She grimaced as she dispersed and threw a last biting remark at them as she vanished from existence.   
“You may have been strong enough to defeat me, but the Keishan will be the end of all of you.”


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
“My lady…” Mosquito addressed Arachne as he entered the hazy bedchamber.  
Lying atop the mattress were Arachne and Ashura laying against her.   
“What is it, Mosquito?”   
“Forgive my intrusion, my lady, but it seems that the DWMA has located our fortress and are sending in their forces to attack as we speak.”  
Arachne hummed, thinking. “Hmm. Well then, it seems our time has come, my love.”  
She stroked Ashura’s hair as he came to a full sitting position on the covers beside her.   
“Leave us.” He snarled.  
Mosquito hesitated, turning a questioning glance to Arachne, who only nodded. The manservant left with a bow, and Ashura took Arachne’s hand as she watched him with full enthrallment.   
“That weak substitution of blood your sister instilled in me will be no match if there is a true Dunpeal in their midst. Even if her blood is an ingredient, it’s been diluted with all of the other crap Medusa mixed in.” He turned a false look of love upon Arachne as he brought his hand to her cheek. “If I am to be at my full strength, then I will need my own power as well…”  
The gasp that left Arachne’s throat as she was bit, was cut off with a sharp choke. Ashura finished draining her and let her lifeless body slump to the covers as he stood and exited the room.  
“I’m sorry, my darling, but thank you for holding it for me for so long.” 

A large force of vampires surrounded Baba Yaga castle as they waited with bated breath for the commands from their king. Lord Death himself, was in council with his death scythes as well as with Kid and his weapons.   
“We have no choice. We’ve lost the element of surprise, so it will have to be a head-on attack. I will be fighting Ashura while the rest of you hold back Arachne’s forces.”  
Azusa suddenly gasped in shock. “The Keishan, he’s killed Arachne.”  
Lord Death sucked in a breath. “Then he has some of his original blood… along with Maka’s and the black blood.”  
“I don’t understand. Why does it matter whose blood he has? What is it you aren’t telling us, Dad?” Kid scowled.  
As he and the twins turned questioning gazes upon the adults, they all avoided looking at him except for Lord Death.   
“I suppose you should know the truth… the reason for all of this craziness. Why we vampires sort ourselves into classes based on our displayed abilities. Why Ashura needed his original blood, and why Maka’s is so coveted. Why witches and vampires have hated one another for so long. Why the black blood is so dangerous… And why it is frowned upon for weapons and Meisters to consort as anything other than partners.”  
Lord Death let out a long breath. “You see, Kid, a very long time ago before I was known as Lord Death, I was the leader of a clan. Ashura was one of my allies who had a fear of death that was so great, he convinced himself that he could find the fountain of youth. He drove himself mad with the pursuit of it, experimenting in dark magic and the like, until he realized that the answer to the question, ‘What is the water of life?’ was none other than blood. Blood was the thing that flowed through every living person’s veins and gave them their essence. He began consuming it in secret, until he realized that it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t just take a little blood, he had to drain someone until their life became part of his own; until he had consumed their soul. As time went on, we all knew that something wasn’t right, he wasn’t aging, he wasn’t eating, by all rights he should have been dead with how much he was starving himself. It wasn’t until he was caught in the act that we knew what had happened. He had traded his humanity for immortality and his morals for madness. We imprisoned him, and he delightedly boasted of his discovery. The tale about him consuming his weapon partner’s soul never really happened, it was a cover-up to keep people from knowing the truth.”  
Eibon, who had been sitting idly in the corner with Excalibur in his weapon form, stood and rested on the hilt of the sword like it was a cane. “I experimented on him. My weapon,” He held Excalibur up for emphasis. “was the first in a long line of experimentation on what capabilities Ashura possessed from consuming souls and mixing magic and blood. We would inject Ashura’s blood into our willing soldiers, but most of them only stopped aging. It wasn’t until their children were born, that the strange powers started to display themselves. The magic would take hold at random in a young weapon’s life, and they would transform. Only at first, they weren’t weapons, they would turn into were-creatures.”  
He paused, as the words registered on the children’s faces.   
“We… outcast them for being too dangerous, but it didn’t stop us… stop me from experimenting. The outcast children grew to hate us, as you can well imagine, and they took up alliances with Arachnophobia when it was still in it’s prime. The witches gained immortality through our own children and used them against us in wars… When my own family fell to this madness, I became desperate for an answer to what it was the Keishan possessed that we did not. Through years of experimenting, Meisters and weapons came into being. We created the system we currently have in place in order to prevent Dunpeals, like Maka Albarn, but that did not stop the births of Dunpeals. Because of the dominance and instability of weapon blood, the weapon side has won out 99% of the time throughout the generations, but Maka Albarn is one of those children who it did not affect in the usual way.”  
There was an interruption as Marie, Stein, and Crona all entered into Lord Death’s office. They nodded as both an apology and a greeting. Lord Death continued when Eibon did not.  
“Maka isn’t with you?”  
Crona shook his head. “No, she went with Soul to the front lines. They’re planning on fighting. Medusa is dead.”  
His voice sounded neutral as he said it. Lord Death nodded, then turned back to address Kid.   
“Maka is not aware of this herself, but she is actually able to transform into a weapon.”  
“Then why make such a fuss?” Kid guffawed. “If she has the gifts of a weapon, then why not tell her?”  
“They can only be unlocked, if the Maka that is currently awake enters into a sort of coma-like state, and the dormant weapon part of her soul can take over. Otherwise, she is completely Meister.”  
“That’s all fine and dandy, but you still haven’t explained why her blood is so special. Sounds to me like it’s just regular Dunpeal blood.”  
“No.” Death shook his head slowly, then turned to Eibon.   
Eibon stepped meaningfully toward Kid and stopped just a foot away from him.   
“Her blood is the most powerful of any vampires, because it comes from not one, but two souls that are completely identical, except for one is a Meister and the other is a weapon. They form a singular, all powerful soul within the girl. She is in every detail of her biology, the original vampire. That is why the Keishan needed her blood specifically, because it is so close to his own, that Maka is the only one who has any capability of destroying him on level ground.”  
Kid threw his head to look at his father. “Then why did you say you would go against him head-on, Dad!?”  
“She has the capability, but Maka has never been able to enter into the state needed to defeat the Keishan.” Stein inserted.  
“Which is why we needed everyone else, and why I didn’t want to tell anybody.” Lord Death let out an exaggerated sigh. “She can’t be put into it by force either, it has to happen naturally, or it won’t at all. Just like how a regular weapon phases.”   
“So, then… We still have to fight him, huh?” Kid grimaced.   
“Afraid so.”   
“Then I’m going down there, too. I’m not going to let my friends face them alone.”  
Lord Death nodded. “Do whatever you feel you have to, son.”  
He nodded back, before turning to look at Crona. “Are you coming?”  
Crona frowned. “I can’t use Ragnarok anymore. For some reason, when Medusa died, it was like the black blood in me disappeared. I can’t hear the voices anymore either, including Maka’s.”  
“Then it’s best if you stay here. There’s no point in sending you in defenseless. Liz and Patty.”   
The twins transformed, and Kid snatched them out of the air before walking out of the office.  
“Are you going to tell Maka about what your dad said?” Liz asked.  
“No. You heard him. If Maka isn’t able to defeat the Keishan by herself, hearing that she has the power to do so will only make her feel responsible if things don’t pan out as we want them to.”  
“If they don’t pan out though, won’t we all be killed?”  
“Don’t think like that. This is war. We fight until things do pan out.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost... done... (Cries seeing that the clock says 3am and I started writing at 9:30pm)  
> Hopefully it will wrap up in the next chapter with a nice epilogue. For now, I sleep.  
> ('Ain't no rest for the wicked' plays quietly in the background.)

Chapter 15  
Three Meisters stood with their weapons’ in hand, facing the collection of soldiers in front of them only mere yards away. Maka, Kid, and Black-Star all wore looks of determination as they stared down the enemy and both sides charged. Arachnophobia was strong, but the vampires were stronger. It didn’t take long for the three children to enter the halls of the castle while their clan fought on outside.  
“Well? What now?” Black-Star asked looking at the intersecting hallways all around them.   
“We could split up and search for the Keishan.” Maka suggested.   
“No,” Kid said. “We need to stay together when we face him. He’s much more powerful than you think.”  
“Doesn’t matter how tough he is, he’s going down!” Black-Star slashed the air with Tsubaki’s blade and smirked arrogantly.   
“Still, Kid’s right.” Soul’s voice resonated out to them. “We stand a better chance of winning if we do this together.”   
“Okay, so which way, then?” Black-Star asked.  
Maka closed her eyes to focus on finding the Keishan’s soul-wavelength. Almost immediately it resonated to her.   
“This way,” She said, turning down a corridor.   
The others followed her until they came to a large room at the center of the castle. A man stood there bundled in swathes of gauze all around his body; the only thing preventing him from looking like a mummy were the clothes he wore over top of them.   
“Ashura.” Maka spat the name like a curse.   
He laughed manically. “This is just too precious. Death decided to send children in here?”  
As if summoned by the mere mention of his name, Lord Death arrived in the chamber by smashing through its roof. He stood between Ashura and the kids and glared coldly at the Keishan through his mask as he spoke in a terrifying tone.   
“You kids get out of here! I told you that I would face him myself!”   
“We aren’t going anywhere, Dad! We can help you win this!” Kid shouted back.   
Death turned to look at him. His son looked much older than he really was in that moment; they all did.   
“Kid… please.”   
Kid and the others stood their ground and Ashura laughed.   
“You really have been training soldiers in that school of yours, haven’t you? Start them young, I like that. Not that it will make much of a difference against me, but I wonder just how powerful the son of Death really is?”   
Lord Death had just enough time to put himself between Kid and Ashura, before the blast from the Keishan’s soul-wavelength pulsed toward him in a single deadly beam of light. As soon as the beam made contact with the fabric of Death’s cloak, it was stopped, but there was a large chunk of his side that was missing.   
“Dad!” Kid shouted, attempting to run forward.  
“Don’t.” Death wheezed. “I’ll be fine.”  
“How can you say that with a wound that massive?” Ashura sneered. “Even the lord of vampires has his limits.”   
Death chuckled wetly. “So, do you.”   
“Huh?”   
While Ashura had been distracted, Black Star and Maka had swiftly come around behind him to land blows. As Soul and Tsubaki connected, however, a large blast of energy sent them all hurling backward. Both Meisters landed on their feet, but clenched their teeth with begrudging frustration. Ashura laughed wickedly once again, but cut it off with a disgusted click of his tongue.  
“This is becoming less and less entertaining by the second. Surely, you don’t think you can actually win?”  
“I captured you once before, I can do it again!” Death performed the same attack that had been used against him, but Ashura countered it by using the shield he had put up against Maka and Black Star.   
“You’ve grown old, Lord Death. I hardly think that title befits you anymore!” The barrier surrounding Ashura suddenly expanded in a burst that sent Death flying back through the opening he had created in the ceiling. “As for the rest of you pests…”  
The force-field Ashura had created continued to expand until it was encompassing the entirety of Baba Yaga castle. The armies outside paused in their fighting momentarily to witness the act. Lord Death hovered just above the energy field and looked woefully down at the children as he clutched his side.   
“Lord Death!” Sid called up to him from the battlefield. By this time the fighting had continued, and the zombie professor fought as he looked up, stricken by the sight of his master’s wound. “Please, you need to get to Stein! The kids can handle themselves. Trust me!”  
Death looked down at his servant and nodded, before throwing a final look at his son and the other students entrapped with Ashura inside of the castle. Speaking only to himself, he withdrew.   
“I hope you’re right.” 

“As for you pests… I think I’ll enjoy sucking out your souls one by one. I’ll leave the girl for last, so that you can watch your friends die.”   
“Like Hell!” Maka said, charging. The others flanked her.   
With an amused smirk, Ashura withdrew his barrier and waited for them to attack him. It was too late for them to question his actions, when he struck out with the bindings that had been covering his face and body. The boys were slow to react to the change in attack, but Maka had seen this before with Medusa. She swiftly used Soul to slice through the oncoming wrappings with ease and got within contact of Ashura’s now bare skin. Switching to her own natural predator instincts and sinking her fangs down into his exposed neck, she began feeding on the foul mixture of blood inside him without stopping. Once she had drained the last of the black blood from him, she pulled away and watched him slump to the ground.  
Soul shifted out of his scythe form and stood beside her with a hand on her shoulder and a questioning in his eyes. In answer, Maka spat the last taste of black blood onto the ground and wiped the side of her mouth before smiling at him. Kid and Black Star stood to either side of them, and they all watched the Keishan with suspicious curiosity.   
“Is he dead?” Kid asked, assuming that perhaps Maka hadn’t actually needed to phase to kill him.   
Maka and Soul watched the slumped form of Ashura without speaking, while Black Star went forward and prodded the Keishan with the toe of his boot.   
“I think so. That or he’s out cold.” He kicked him hard this time and smirked. “Is that all it took? Huh? You piece of-”  
Black Star was sent flying across the room, where he landed with a smirk and a firm set to his jaw. The others turned to see Ashura coming to a full standing position with an ominous chuckle. He looked directly at Maka, and she suddenly slumped to the ground in pain.   
“Maka!” Soul cried, kneeling beside her. “What’s wrong?”  
Maka continued to double-over in pain while Ashura laughed.  
“Silly girl. You should have known better than to drink tainted blood.” As they watched Ashura, he began to grow. “Power is in blood, all of the strongest magic is derived from blood, the very essence of life is in blood…” He was now more than three times the size of them. “And now, you have all of that putrid black blood that Medusa concocted inside of you. Do you want to know why she didn’t die the first time you tried to kill her? Because she gave me some of her magic and I gave her back just enough of it to regenerate her body. Now I not only have hers, but also Arachne’s and my own original blood flowing in my veins. With all of this power, and the fact that you just swallowed all of the black blood tainting me, I can bend you to my will!”   
Maka let out a cry before passing out from the pain, and Soul cradled her as he shouted at Ashura.  
“You bastard!”   
The Keishan merely chuckled and sent out another stream of gauze towards them. Black Star and Kid blocked it this time, shielding Soul and Maka.   
“Soul, listen to me!” Kid shouted. “You have to resonate with Maka and find the part of her soul that is a weapon!”  
“What?!”  
Ashura continued to attack with his wrappings and Kid and Black Star continued to block him.   
“She has the ability to turn into a weapon! If you can reach into her mind and find the part of her that has that ability, then she can destroy the Keishan! Black Star and I will keep Ashura busy while you link souls with her.”   
“How am I supposed to do that with her while she’s asleep?!”   
“Figure it out!”   
Soul watched his friends continue to thwart the Keishan and let out a heavy breath. “Okay.” He turned to look down at Maka with a mixture of love and fear. “Maka…” A thought occurred to him then, and he leaned down closer to her. “I’m sorry, Maka.”  
He latched down on her neck and began drinking her blood. It tasted like a mixture of bitter charcoal ashes and sweet tangy iron. As the liquid flowed across his tongue and down his throat, he began to see some of Maka’s memories as if they were photos in an album. There was one of her dad holding her as a toddler, and then one where they were dancing and she was standing on his feet. The memories continued to flash past in rapid succession until they came to the night he had met Maka. He’d been playing the piano in a vacant music room at the school during a party, and she had happened upon him, complimenting him on his playing. They had decided to be partners that night. Soul felt as if he could reach out to the memory with his hand, and as he did so, he was sucked into a room with monochromatic tile and red curtains on the walls. There was a phonograph and chair against one wall and a piano in the corner opposite from it with a beautiful chandelier casting a low light over everything.   
“This looks like…” Soul began to say, noticing that he was no longer wearing his street clothes, but a dashing gray pinstripe suit.   
Soft jazz music started emanating from behind him, and he spun to see Maka sitting cross-legged in the chair beside the phonograph. She smiled up at him, wearing an entirely black gown and matching ribbons in her hair.   
“Looks like you found me.”   
“Maka, what is this place? It looks just like where I go in my head, but I thought I was in yours.”  
“That’s because we’re resonating right now.” She giggled and stood, coming over to take his hands in hers. “Will you dance with me?”   
Without waiting for an answer, she began leading him to the rhythm of the record music and he had to stop her by taking both her hands.   
“Hey, will you wait a second? This is serious right now, we’re in the middle of a fight with the Keishan. Kid says that you can phase into a weapon that’ll destroy him, but we have to find the part of your soul that’s capable of it. It’s got to be around her somewhere.”   
Maka frowned and turned away from him with her hands behind her back. “Oh… I know where she is, but I don’t think she’ll come out.”  
“You have to take me to her. Who knows, maybe I can talk her out.” Soul smirked charmingly.  
Maka blushed before glancing to a black door that had suddenly materialized out of nowhere. “She’s through there, but there’s a lot of black blood seeping in, you better hurry.”   
Soul didn’t wait for Maka to follow him as he opened the door and found a staircase leading down to another door that was painted white. Black liquid was trickling down the walls in small streams, but fast enough that it was swiftly coating the stairs. He ran down the stairs and opened the door, just to find a similar scene in front of him as before, only the door was black this time. Speeding ahead, unhindered, he opened that door as well and continued down another staircase, only this time the door at the end was a mixture of half black and half white. Dreading that he might be caught in an endless loop, he opened the door to find a room on the other side. It had the same floor as the previous room, with alternating black and white tiles, but the walls were vacantly white. In the center of the room was a fancy end table with a little white box sitting on top of it. Soul began to vaguely feel as if he were inside of Alice in Wonderland, but shook off the feeling as he stepped into the room.   
The door behind him closed suddenly and he spun to see Maka who looked a little more pale than before. Her hair didn’t look it’s normal shade of blonde, either, and was whiter now like his own.   
“You have to keep the blood out. If it reaches us here, we’ll both be consumed by it.”   
“So, where is the other part of your soul?”  
“I only see one Soul right now, and he’s standing right in front of me.” Maka smirked. “It’s just us.”  
Soul growled. “What the heck is with you, Maka? We’re in the middle of a war and you want to be all flirty? This isn’t like you… Wait a minute.”   
Maka smirked at him as the wheels in his head began to turn.  
“You’re not Maka.”  
“Hmph, took you long enough. I may not be your Maka, but I could be. She locked herself in there.” The other Maka pointed at the little white box on top of the end table. “She’s too scared to come out.”  
Soul crossed over to the table without taking his eyes off of the other Maka, and peered into the keyhole of the tiny box. Inside was a sleeping version of Maka in the same outfit as her doppelganger, but her dress was white.   
“Maka!” Soul shouted, but the white-dress Maka wouldn’t stir.  
Looking up at the doppelganger, Soul glared. “What did you do to her? Why won’t she wake up?”   
“I didn’t do anything. She finally figured out that it’s easier to stay here where it’s safe, while everyone else does the hard work for her.”   
“That’s nothing like her! She wouldn’t stay here while her friends fight for her!”  
“Oh yeah? Well then, why don’t you open the box and ask her?”  
The little Maka inside of the box heard that and woke with a gasp. “No! Soul, wait! If you let me out, then she comes back in! I won’t be able to phase into a weapon and defeat the Keishan! Soul? Can you hear me? Soul!”  
Soul clutched the lid of the box as the other Maka stared with anticipation. He smirked with closed eyes and removed his hand, making the black-dressed Maka glare.   
“Nice try, but I know you, Maka.”   
The doppelganger and the mini-version both blinked in surprise, while Soul continued to talk with his eyes shut.   
“There aren’t two of you. These are just two halves of the same person. You aren’t either of them. They’re both inside of you.” He opened his eyes and stared at the box. “You’re shy and feel like you’re stuck in the place where people put you,” he looked up from the box to the Maka before him. “and you feel like you have to hide this part of yourself from everyone except me, because you think I’m the only one who will accept it.”  
He walked forward and grabbed the black-dressed Maka’s hand, staring at her to the point that she became fidgety, and then looked at the white box in his other hand.   
“You think that you can’t be all these things at once, but you can, Maka.” Opening the box, the white-dressed version of Maka appeared beside her alternate holding Soul’s other hand. They both stared at him and then at each other with uncertainty. “If you can’t learn to harmonize with your own soul, then you aren’t being yourself, are you? You two are a part of each other, might as well accept it.”   
He let go of their hands and took a step back, watching them. They both looked down at their hands in unison and took the others hesitantly, before looking at one another. Each of them smiled and then they embraced. A flash of gray light emanated around them and then a single Maka stood there in her usual school outfit.   
“How do you feel?” Soul asked.   
Maka put a fist to her chest and clenched it determinedly. “Like kicking the Keishan’s ass.”  
“Good. Do you think you can turn into a weapon?”  
“Hmm.” She looked around the room. “Not from here. Follow me.”  
She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him after her.   
“Where are we going?”  
“Where we can resonate. This is my head. We have to find the common ground.”


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
“They sure have been out for a while, do you think they’re okay?” Black Star shouted to Kid as they fought the Keishan.  
Kid glanced back at Maka and Soul. He was still cradling her in his arms but was now hunched over her forehead to forehead as if in some kind of meditation trance. “I don’t know.”  
The Keishan suddenly let out a roar as he swung at them with a giant hand and missed.  
“We should figure something else out, though!”  
“Way ahead of you!” Black Star shot toward the Keishan and used his ninja-like skills to zip around the massive man before calling out to his partner. “Tsubaki! Enchanted sword mode!”   
Tsubaki shifted into her family’s characteristic weapon form before she was driven to the hilt into the head of the Keishan. Ashura roared and wrapped his massive hand around Black Star before flinging him to the ground, where he hit hard and passed-out.  
“Black Star!” Tsubaki shouted, but she couldn’t phase while she was stuck in Ashura’s head.   
The Keishan pulled her out and flung her to the side of Black Star with a groan, putting his hand back to his scalp. “Geez, you guys sure are giving me a headache.”   
Tsubaki phased back into her human form and put her hands on either side of Black Star’s face. “Black Star? Hey, come on… You aren’t supposed to give up this easy….” She smiled, but then frowned when the comment warranted no reaction. With tears in her eyes, she pulled him into her. “Black Star…”   
A hand meekly stroked her back and she pulled away to look at him with surprised relief.  
“Hey, Tsubaki…” Black Star spoke with a weak voice through hazy eyes. “That… really hurt.”   
Passing back out, Tsubaki gently laid him down and stood to face the Keishan. Black markings suddenly appeared all over her body and electric energy seemed to buzz and crackle all around her as her arms phased into elongated blades. She glared at the Keishan with all of her unbridled fury as he brought his hand down to swipe at her. With a furious growl, she slashed his hand, combining it with a blast of her soul-wavelength.   
“Augh!” Ashura withdrew his hand and looked at the gash in it. With an angry sneer, he clenched his fist and looked down at her. “You’re stronger than you look, but not strong enough!”   
Ashura brought down his fist in a swing, combining it with his own soul-wavelength. Tsubaki fought to keep her own wave-length stable, but the force broke through her barrier and the fist came down.   
“Tsubaki!” Kid and the twins screamed.   
When Ashura withdrew his hand, Tsubaki lay beneath unconscious in a divot. Kid focused on his own soul-wavelength and used it to charge Liz and Patty, who had transformed into arm cannons, rather than pistols. The more that Kid focused his wavelength the wider the field of energy around him became. The markings in his hair that he had always despised for only being on one side of his head, suddenly ran all around his hair as he focused more energy into his weapons. He both taunted the Keishan as well as motivated himself, by spouting off to Ashura.   
“I am the son of the vampire king! I am a pure-blooded immortal, and a member of the Reaper family! I belong to the most powerful clan in the world, and I am not afraid of you!” He shot everything he had in him at the Keishan and yelled for good measure as he did so. “Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Asymmetrical, soul-sucking, pile of useless filth!”   
Ashura was knocked back by the blast and shook his head in a discombobulated fashion, rubbing his jaw. “You certainly are Death’s son. Only he was ever strong enough to knock me on my ass like that. I have to admit, I’m impressed, but…”  
Kid suddenly slumped and Liz and Patty had to phase back to keep him from completely collapsing.  
“Using all of your energy in a single blow like that? It’s just poor strategy.”  
Ashura stepped towards them with a smile, his shadow covering them. Kid had blacked-out, and Liz and Patty were both looking up at the Keishan in dismay. They knew that neither one of them had enough power left to stop Ashura. He took each of them by their necks and hoisted them into the air as they struggled, and Kid was left behind on the ground in a slump.   
“I really don’t like fighting without giving you a sporting chance, as futile as it might be. It looks like you two don’t have any special tricks up your sleeves without him, though, so I’ll make it easier and put you two to sleep, too, before I dispose of all of you.”  
“Patty!” Liz looked to her sister and stretched her hand towards her.   
Patty turned and made the same gesture. “Sis!”   
“Aw, now that’s sweet. Fine, I’m feeling generous.” Ashura brought them close enough so that they could clasp hands as he choked them.  
As soon as they had taken each other’s hands, Liz transformed, and Patty shot Ashura right in the eyes. He yelled and dropped her, while she laughed maniacally. As soon as she would have hit the ground, she transformed, and Liz came out of her weapon form holding her with a smug grin.   
“That’s how you learn to fight in the streets!”  
Liz shot at him and dodged out of the way when he tried to slam his hand down on her. She also avoided the gauze, and her and Patty took turns switching until they were both out of energy and Ashura was raging mad.  
“Enough of this!” He growled and hit Liz who was human then.  
She was knocked-out by the blow and Patty was dealt the same damage as she phased to check on her sister. Ashura panted with fury before realizing that he had won, and chuckled. In the middle of his laughter, however, he was interrupted by a scythe blade in his leg. Looking down he saw the Dunpeal girl with a blade ejecting from her arm and into him.   
“What?”  
Pulling back her arm, Maka swung the other, and an identical blade ejected from it and stuck in Ashura. He kicked her away, but she kept her footing as she came to a halt and two more blades ejected from her calves.   
“It’s not possible. I put you out!”   
Maka rushed back and slammed both of her arms down into his flesh before using them like pick-axes to climb up his leg.   
“Why you little…!” He grabbed her, and she sunk both sickles into his hand, but he held her firm. “How are you…? Wait.”  
He looked at her face. Maka’s eyes were open, but they weren’t focused. One eye remained green, but the other had turned crimson around the iris. She was still unconscious, but somehow her body moved.   
“I see.” He turned to look at Soul, who was laying on the ground, still connected to Maka’s mind. With a smirk, he turned back to Maka. “Hardly seems like a fair fight… Why don’t we even the odds?”  
Ashura shrunk back to his normal size, but as he did, all of the energy he had absorbed went from his hand and shot directly at Soul. Maka slowly regained consciousness. As her eyes became unclouded, the red one returned to its emerald sheen and she screamed.  
“SOUL!”

“Where are we going?” Soul asked as he was pulled along by Maka.  
She turned to look at him as she ran. “Where we can resonate. This is my head. We have to find the common ground, that’s where our minds connect. It’s in the place where we first met.”  
They had gone up the stairs and back into the room with the jazz music, where another door had opened up on the opposite wall. “This room is a mixed space both of our minds can manipulate, and it links to the common ground.”  
Maka went through the opposite door, pulling Soul along, and they were now running down a hallway filled with pictures. As they continued down the corridor, a piano came into view.   
“Here it is.” She turned to look at Soul. “You have to play.”  
“What? Why?”   
“It’s the strongest way for us to resonate. As long as I can hear you playing my soul will know where to come back to. It’s easy to get lost in the subconscious. Will you play for me Soul?”   
He nodded at her and sat down to the piano, poising to play it. “You come back to me, you hear?”   
She smiled. “Don’t worry, I will.”  
She ran off back the way she’d come, as Soul struck the piano keys in a combination of notes that sounded like chaos forming into a dance. It was loud and resonated through the corridors of her mind. She had come back to the room with the phonograph and switched it off. Turning, she saw another Maka dressed identically to her.   
“Are you ready to do this?” She asked herself.   
The other Maka nodded and phased into a scythe that bore a striking resemblance to her father’s weapon form. Maka took hold of it and wielded it with surprisingly more familiarity than she felt with Soul. As she swung the scythe within her mind, outside her body was reacting by attacking Ashura. Soul’s music provided the rhythm by which she swung, and she was feeling confident that she would win, when suddenly there was no more music. It didn’t fade, so much as cut off all together.   
“Soul?” Maka turned towards the door that held the corridor on the other side.   
Opening it, she was suddenly no longer holding the scythe version of herself. She ran down the corridor towards Soul and found only the piano, with no trace of him.  
“Maka!” Soul cried from further down the hall.  
She looked down it to see him clutching a wound across his chest that was seeping blood, and it was black.   
“Soul!” She tried to come toward him, but he put a hand out towards her.   
“Stay back! The Keishan is trying to pull you into me. If he separates you from your body, then you’ll be killed!”  
“But I can’t just leave you here!”  
“Get out of your head, Maka!” Soul yelled at her. “It’s the only way to fight him.”   
She looked stricken, before nodding and closing her eyes. 

Maka’s vision focused and she saw Ashura before her with his hand around her throat. Turning her head as much as she could, she found that his other hand was extended toward Soul and was shooting him with a beam from his soul-wavelength.   
“SOUL!”   
He remained unconscious on the ground as he was blasted. With a growl, she brought back her fist and slugged Ashura right in the face. With a startled fumble, he dropped her and brought both of his hands to his face. Black blood gushed from his nose.  
“What? How did you do that?” He looked down at the blood that had dripped into his hands and then up at her in bewilderment. “What the hell are you?”   
Maka stood with her hands clenched and glared at him. “I’m Maka Albarn, Dunpeal scythe Meister.”   
Ashura took a step back. “That’s not what I meant! You’re only a Dunpeal! You can’t possibly be strong enough to hurt me! You’re just a weak little girl!”   
There was a chuckle from where Soul lay, and they both turned to look at him. Ashura was stunned.  
“Guess you don’t know her very well.” Soul wheezed, remaining still.   
“What?! You’re still alive? No! It isn’t possible!”   
Ashura glanced around wildly at the scattered children who breathed shallowly.   
“No… You all are just weak little Meisters and weapons. Not one of you alone is strong enough to defeat me! My blood is stronger than all of yours!”  
Chuckles went up around the Keishan. They weren’t malicious in any way, just genuinely amused. Soul, Kid, Liz, Patty, Black Star, and Tsubaki all lifted their heads weakly and smiled at Ashura.  
“Don’t you get it?” Black Star asked.  
“It isn’t about blood at all.” Kid said.   
“Maka’s fighting spirit,” Liz wheezed.   
“What makes her strong,” Patty chimed.   
“Stronger than you,” Tsubaki breathed.   
“It’s in her soul. She’s brave.” Soul finished. “You can’t change your blood, everyone knows that. The shape and form we take doesn’t matter. In the end, it all comes down to who we are; who we choose to be. It’s the soul that counts, and yours is rotten to the core, man.”   
“No… No! No! No! You all are inferior! I have lived longer than any of you ever will!”  
“Shut-up!” Maka slugged Ashura in the gut this time and he coughed up the black blood.  
“This… It’s this inferior experimental blood! It’s weakened me. Y-your blood is inside of me… controlling me somehow. It’s the only explanation!”  
“You’re wrong. I sucked it out, remember?” Maka said. “There’s still a little mixed in, but most of that’s yours. All I’ve been doing is hitting you with my soul-wavelength. I can feel yours, you know? Soul’s right, it’s so rotten that it’s falling apart.”  
Ashura looked up at her with terrified eyes and then slumped with his head down, unable to process the fear that coursed through him. “You aren’t special… Your soul is exactly like everyone else’s. Why… why are you able to do this?”  
She hit him a final time in the chest, and his whole body began to crack like glass and fall away.   
“You’re right, I’m not special.” She said. “I have the same potential as anyone else. I simply choose to keep fighting until I win. That’s what makes my soul strong. You have no power over me, because you gave up on your soul a long time ago.”   
Ashura crumbled apart completely in a burst of dust, and Maka stood there for a moment longer before sagging to her knees with shaking breaths. Soul and the others progressively got to their feet and came over to her, where Soul put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down beside her before helping her up.   
“It really didn’t matter who it was that faced him, did it?” Liz asked.   
“I don’t know.” Kid said. “Maka was the only one who figured it out in time to attack him straight on like that. The rest of us were too focused on his strength, we didn’t think to exploit his weakness.”  
“So, his weakness was his soul?” Patty asked.  
“Yeah.” Soul said. “The Keishan became so focused on what was going into him, that he didn’t ever think about what it was turning him into. It’s why Maka doesn’t turn into a weapon. She’s always cared more about the soul than what’s in the blood.”  
Maka smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “I still could have lost you.” She turned to look at the rest of her friends. “All of you.”  
They smiled at her.  
“Don’t worry, Maka, it’ll take more than a direct blast from a crumby old Keishan to keep me down.” Black Star beamed.   
They had all failed to notice that the barrier surrounding them had disappeared and that the adults were coming in to meet them, until a familiar voice rang out in a mixture of relief and worry.   
“MAKA!” Spirit flung himself into her and squeezed her until she could feel her vertebrae popping.  
“Papa… You’re choking me.”   
He set her down but kept his hands on her shoulders. “I’m so glad that you’re safe. I’m so proud!”  
Kid brought a worried hand down on his shoulder. “Is my father all right?”  
Spirit nodded and withdrew from Maka. “Yeah, Stien’s fixing him up right now. Thanks to you kids, we won. Come on, let’s all get out of here.” 

“Ow! Maka!” Soul rubbed the top of his head as it began to swell.  
Maka held aloft a hefty book and frowned at him. “You ought to let Crona have the last one, you’ve already eaten five!”   
“It’s really okay.” Crona put up his hands and waved them. “I don’t need it.”  
“There, you see?” Soul snatched up the last cookie and shoved it into his mouth before she could hit him again.   
The three of them were having tea at Marie and the Professor’s lab, and Marie was walking out of the kitchen with another batch of cookies as they argued.   
“There’s no need to fight, I’ve got another plate right here.” She set it down with a smile.   
“Hey, Miss Marie, I’ve been wanting to ask you. What is it you said to Professor Stein that snapped him out of Medusa’s haze?”  
Before Marie could answer, Stein walked in from having been outside. He smelled of cigarettes, but he didn’t have one in his mouth like he usually did. He sat down and took one of the cookies with a satisfied grin.  
“Did I interrupt something?”  
Marie shared a look with him. “Maka was just asking what I said to you in Medusa’s lair.”   
His smile widened. “Marie told me that I was going to be a father.”   
All of the kids got surprised looks on their faces and then congratulated the both of them.   
“So, this means you’ll have a little brother or sister, Crona.” Maka smiled at him, and he blushed at the thought.   
“Wonder if you’ll end up having a Dunpeal? After all the kid will have both weapon and Meister blood from you guys.” Soul said to Stein and Marie.   
Marie put a hand to her stomach. “Whatever they are, we’ll be happy. That’s the one good thing that came out of this war is that new decree.”  
Stein nodded. “The elders might have a thing or two to say about it, but I don’t think the younger clan members will pay them much heed. That hasn’t stopped us before, after all.”  
They all smiled. Maka leaned against Soul’s shoulder, and took Crona’s hand and gave it a squeeze as she recited the new decree.  
“Let blood be shed to nourish the soul and not to distinguish it. A sound soul, dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body. In the end, the shape and form don’t matter, it’s only the soul that counts.” 

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks for reading. :) <3


End file.
